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I'd say thinkorswim's platform is a good benchmark in terms of what tools one may need for options. OptionVue is good, but it's relatively expensive. I used to use Hoadley's tools, which I still think is the best value-for-money package. However, thinkorswim meets all my needs these days.

I agree with Wayne. If you think the stock will drop to about 40 within the next 16 days then the Nov 45 puts at 0.10 bid-0.20 ask are a good play as those would go to about 5, which would be a nice return.

Forget about spreadbetting, it's a totally different business model and market structure.

For ES it is the SPY. SPY is 1/10th the size of the S&P 500 index so 1 point in S&P 500 is equal to 0.1 points in SPY. ES is the same size as S&P 500 index and it is $50 per index point. So to have $50 per index point you need to buy 500 shares of SPY. For NQ it is the QQQQ. (I'm gonna leave...

Markets have been known to overreact on certain ocasions...

Per account.

If an ETF exists then sure, you can go with it. However, I seriously doubt you would get the same margin requirement. ETF is a stock, basically, so it is margined as per stocks, while futures are margined differently, namely per SPAN.

I'm not sure what you mean by exchanges allowing variable amounts per point. Once the exchange sets the contract specs they are fixed. A variable amount would be an absolute mess when it comes to clearing.

No! That's the point of futures, they are standardized contracts! Brokers have no control over this and never will!

I agree with others. The benefit of bbg is that you have everything in one place and a fancy specialized keyboard with a biometric reader, but that's about it.

In other words, there's no free lunch!

You can't really use 3-10% on margin as "a typical IC" cause it really depends on how far OTM or close to ATM you go. My ICs average about 25-35% return on margin, and for this month it is almost 50%. So taking a max loss is not a big deal.

It was actually cut down to 0.01 (no, that's not a typo, the automatic threshold is 1 cent.)

There is correlation, but as I said, it's like comparing index's movement to the individual component's movement. They correlate, but not perfectly.

VIX is calculated using all the strikes, while the IV for a particular option can and will be affected by that option's demand/supply on the market. Besides, VIX is based on SPX options and not on ES options! It's like saying that S&P 500 went up, but one of the component stocks went down.

I don't think it's a problem for TOS customers. Client funds are in segregated accounts, which means the funds are safe and if Penson goes out of business you get your money back, and you also got SIPC insurance.

Dividends is the biggest reason to exercise a call early. Do a search on "early exercise" here on ET and on Google, there are tons of stuff written on this.

Listen, forget about your friend and this heating oil option. Pick up a book on options or download one, or just visit some of the websites like exchanges' sites to at least learn what an option is and how it works. When I read your post it really sounds like you have just a bunch of mumbo jumbo...

I'm not sure which particular contract (i.e. commodity) you are talking about, but if the contract size is 42000 gallons then 1 cent is equal to 0.01*42000=420 per contract. That's where that $420 figure comes from. It's just the size of 1 contract. A contract size has absolutely no bearing...

ditto. I'm with Thinkorswim and they don't have trading levels at all! And I can sell naked puts without a gazzilion dollar account. :) Anyway, these are just semantics.