If you are an options trader, you may have noticed a very pleasant trading month in March. Overall liquidity for options traders has never been better. The Options Clearing Corporation, now known simply OCC, reported that March 2011 produced a record volume in contracts traded. Over 420 million contracts changed hands - an increase of 19% above March 2010. The OCC also reported that the first quarter for 2011 witnessed a record amount of volume. According to the Wall Street Journal, some of the increase may be attributed to the high volatility caused by the news from Japan and North Africa.
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The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) had some market share loss, with approximately 2.15 million equity option contracts traded. For the CBOE, the March 2011 volume was down more than 10% compared to March of 2010. Can an increase in option trading spell profits for trading companies, and are any of the companies worth putting into a retirement account?
We will take a look at a few trading-related companies and see if they might be a good fit. This is the third article in my series about stocks that may be good fits for retirement investing. You may see my previous one about food inflation related stocks here. I use a proprietary blend of technical analysis, financial crowd behavior, and fundamentals in my short-term trades, and while not totally the same in my retirement account investments the concept is the same. The last component for entry is the ability to sell put options at or near the offer price. I want the best of it when I enter into a trade, and I will not start out by paying a spread unless it is less than five cents and/or < 1% of the option premium.
To do well in the market, you should know the stocks you track inside and out. After all, every journey begins with a single step, so let us start by considering some interesting companies, which will give you a starting point for possible stocks that you might buy for your retirement accounts.
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