The seminars, to be held in September at venues in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, follow on from new ASX research on the options market, which is available at www.asx.com.au/options. The research has indicated three critical factors for successful options trading:
- a strong sense of discipline
- developing a predetermined “game plan”
- sticking to that plan
The research examined the trading habits of more sophisticated option traders, who are the investors most likely to benefit from Kearney’s lectures. The seminars follow a successful series last year by Alex Jacobson, one of the world’s leading authorities on options.
Announcing the lecture series, ASX General Manager Market Services, Peter FitzGerald said “We are delighted to see there are so many successful investors with a passion for continuous learning about options trading, because it is an area that is particularly suited to education. Strategies and techniques change rapidly and the most successful traders keep ahead of the curve through opportunities such as this,” he said.
The investment landscape is changing rapidly. Developments such as the growth of funds in superannuation and Super Choice means there is greater opportunity to take advantage of the flexibility that strategic options trading allow. In fact, according to Kearney, “anyone with a [superannuation scheme] 401(K) in the States should be using options periodically, so the same applies to Australian investors in Self Managed Super Funds.”
Whilst the use of options to protect shares from a fall in price, earn income and leverage the market are well understood not all strategies are permitted within Super. Using derivatives for speculative purposes to leverage a fund’s ability to buy shares in excess of the fund’s ability to pay for those shares is clearly not permitted. Such activity exposes the fund to undue risk and as such would be unacceptable to the ATO. These seminars will cover the proper and improper use of options both within Super and outside, giving investors the chance to hear first hand how US investors use options in a variety of settings.
The seminar series follows a year in which the options market set new records. Last financial year options trading volume was up 22%, driven mainly by retail investors. The number of Options accounts held with ASX now exceeds 100,000, and is increasing. Attendees will receive a pack containing a number of useful investment aids to assist with trading activities.
Seminar dates
Brisbane September 7 – 6:00pm-8:30pm Gold Coast September 8 – 6:00pm-8:30pm Melbourne September 13 –6:00pm-8:30pm Sydney ASX September 15 –6:00pm-8:30pm Bookings
Call 131 279, or visit www.asx.com.au/martykearney
