Monday 5 May 2008

Forex Vs. Options | SigmaForex

Derivatives traders at the Chicago Board of Trade.Forex Vs. Options

Options are financial instruments that convey the right, but not the obligation, to engage in a future transaction on some underlying security. For example, buying a call option provides the right to buy a specified quantity of a security at a set strike price at some time on or before expiration, while buying a put option provides the right to sell. Upon the option holder's choice to exercise the option, the party who sold, or wrote, the option must fulfill the terms of the contract.

Types of options:

Exchange traded options (also called "listed options") is a class of exchange traded derivatives. Exchange traded options have standardized contracts, and are settled through a clearing house with fulfillment guaranteed by the credit of the exchange. Since the contracts are standardized, accurate pricing models are often available. Exchange traded options include:

  1. Stock Options.
  2. Commodity Options.
  3. Bond options and other interest rate options.
  4. Index (equity) Options.
  5. Options on futures contracts.

Over-the-counter, or OTC options are traded between two private parties, and are not listed on an exchange. The terms of an OTC option are unrestricted and may be individually tailored to meet any business need. In general, at least one of the counterparties to an OTC option is a well-capitalized institution. Option types commonly traded over the counter include:

1) Interest rate options.
2) Currency cross rate options.
3) Options on swaps or swaptions.

Employee stock options are issued by a company to its employees as compensation.

Forex

Options

Largest and most liquid market in the world

Liquidity depends on underlying asset & expiry date

24-hour trading action for 5.5 days a week

Not 24-hour. Varying trading hours based on the exchanges

Easier to calculate stop beforehand

Difficult and unreliable to place stops on underlying asset

Minimum slippage and order errors

More room for slippage due to lack of liquidity

100:1 leverage on standard-sized accounts

Leverage depends on the type of option transaction you want to engage in. Selling Naked Calls or Puts generally requires a huge amount of margin

No commissions

Commissions on every trade

Most liquid market in the world

Limited liquidy

Limited risk, most forex brokers will automatically close your positions when your account balance goes to zero

It is possible to have a negative balance if you write an option

Instant executions, all-electronic market

Delayed fills possible


Money Manager

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Highly developed trading platform

Our trading platform feature quality execution capabilities as well as advanced and easy-to-use order entry and position management tools, all in a secure friendly environment. A full suite of decision support tools, from charting to research, news and more, are also available to clients all for free.

Characteristic tools

Our proprietary tool offers money managers a comprehensive and efficient way to manage pooled customer funds and track portfolio performance. Accessible online, the system automatically journals percentages of your transactions from your Master account into your client's sub accounts at the close of each trade.

We also support the needs of money managers who wish to execute trades and place orders on a per account basis. Reporting capabilities are available directly within the application, as well as real-time margin and P&L.

Back-office support

Our Partner Services team is dedicated to providing full account management support to our money managers and your clients. Our customer support is 24 hours, customers may fund around the clock. Sigma’s Partner Services team is dedicated to providing Outstanding Compensation and full account management support.

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