Saturdays with McMillan: 14 Seminar Home Study Course

A Comprehensive Option Education in Streamable and Downloadable Video Format.

Containing over 20 hours of educational material spanning 14 topics, this video bundle is the perfect learning tool for traders at any level. Divided into novice, intermediate, and advanced volumes, the 14 Seminar Home Study Course promotes a comprehensive option learning experience in a slide-show seminar format. Instructed by Lawrence G. McMillan, himself, each educational video is more than an hour-long and includes guided audio and visual instruction from Mr. McMillan. Available for streaming or download, purchase the entire 14 seminar set or just the novice, intermediate, or advanced volumes.

14 different topics in separate streamable video files (1-hour plus running time each).
PC or MAC compatible.
Unlimited streaming from your computer, tablet, or smartphone (with internet connection) for three years after purchase date - no download needed.
File downloads available for additional cost. File downloads do not expire.

Click on each seminar Topic below to view the seminar outline

Novice Seminar Set (4 seminars)

Option Basics

Definitions: Describing options
Option markets
Intrinsic value; examples
Relationships; examples
Factors influencing the price of an option
Pricing curves
Basic terms: call options
Basic terms: put options
Time value premium decay
Option trading details
Mechanics of exercise & assignment
Assignment on expiration day
Anticipating early assignment
Dividends and assignment
Symbols, definitions and examples
Wraps symbols
LEAPS option symbols
Stock splits and spinoffs
Caution regarding adjustments
Position and exercise limits
Order entry
Considerations for index options
Index settlement price
Considerations for futures options

Covered Call Writing

Positives and negatives
Covered writing terms
Comparison to owning stock
Total return concept
Returns in cash accounts
Downside protection
Returns in margin accounts
Covered write calculator
Probability of making money
Probability calculator
Differing philosophies
Importance of diversification
Follow-up strategies
Avoiding a locked-in loss
Equivalence to naked puts
Writing against stock already owned
Rolling for credits
A "new" spread strategy

Naked Option Writing

Benefits of naked option writing
Risks of naked writing
Expiring Option Statistics
Profit graphs
Brokerage Firm Requirements
Investment Required
Equity Option Margin examples
- In-money vs. Out-of-money
Marked to market daily
Naked Index Option Margin
Naked Futures Option Margin
Margin Comparison
The Philosophy of Naked Writing
Naked Writing Concepts
The Strategy of Naked Writing
Use Index or Futures Options
Sell Expensive Options
Use A Probability Calculator
The Option Strategist Analysis Tools
The Monte Carlo Simulation
Allow Enough Margin
Have Somewhere To Roll To
Strategy Summary
Alternative Ratio Strategies
Credit Spreads

Speculative Option Buying

Important basics of option buying
The delta of an option
What are realized and implied volatility?
Using the Black-Scholes model as an option buyer
Which option to buy?
Risk Management – how many to buy?

Intermediate Seminar Set (5 seminars)

Advanced Spreading Techniques

Advanced spread types
Butterfly spreads
Butterfly strategy
Alternative butterflies
Selling the butterfly
Unbalanced butterfly
Box spread
Buying the box
Selling the box
Ratio write
Ratio call spread
Call ratio follow-up
Put ratio spread
Delta neutral ratio spreads
Backspreads
Put backspread
Diagonal spreads
Diagonal bull spread
Writing against LEAPS
Reverse calendar spread
Reverse diagonal backspread

LEAPS Strategies

Basic Properties
LEAPS Option Symbols
Listing a New LEAPS
Pricing LEAPS options
Other Important Factors
LEAPS Call Pricing vs. Rates
LEAPS Call Pricing vs. Dividend
LEAPS Call Pricing vs. Volatility
LEAPS As Stock Substitute
Protecting Stock With LEAPS
Speculative Option Buying With LEAPS
Buying LEAPS On Margin
Selling Covered LEAPS Calls
"Free" Covered Call Writes
Uncovered LEAPS Selling
Writing Short-Term Calls Against LEAPS
Other Strategies Using LEAPS

Event-Driven Strategies

Direct indicators definition
Options as a direct indicator
Volume alerts
Important patterns to look for
Filtering out "noise"
The "ideal" pattern
Examples of volume predicting takeovers
Trading the position
Not all news is good
Predicting earnings surprises
Implied volatility as a predictor
Examples of volatility and volume together
Up-Down Volume: momentum indicator
Examples of momentum breakouts
Dangers of expensive options
The event-driven straddle buy
Playing earnings announcements

Using the Put-Call Ratio

Calculating the ratio
Overview of put-call ratios
Contrarian trading
The Equity-only put-call ratios; NYSE and NASDAQ indicators
Dollar-weighted put-call ratios
$OEX put-call ratio
Which option to buy?
Considerations for broad market signals
Stocks with a good track record of put-call signals
Considerations for stock option signals
Considerations for sector put-call ratios
The best sectors to trade with put-call ratio signals
Continuous futures contracts
Considerations for futures options
Futures with a good history of put-call signals
How to identify the signals as they are occurring
Trading summary
Put-call Ratio chart service

Useful Applications

Trading Systems
- McMillan Volatility Bands
- $VIX Crossover Systems
- Realized Vol Sell Signal
- New Highs vs. New Lows
- Put-call ratio extremes
Seasonal Trades
- January Seasonal
- October Seasonal
- June and Sept expiration trades
- Post-Thanksgiving Seasonal
Review of Systems Previously Covered
- VIX Spike Peak
- The Big Short
- Event-Driven Straddle Buys
Comments on Vertical Spreading
OOM Backspreads - low cost, large potential

Advanced Seminar Set (5 seminars)

Intermarket Spreads

Definitions
Intermarket examples: futures, stocks, indices
Oil & gas index ($XOI) vs. crude oil futures
The Option Strategy for intermarket spreading
Option strategy profits
Determining the proper ratio to use
Two ways to make money
Gold & silver index ($XAU) vs. gold futures
Futures spreads: inter- and intra-commodity
Unleaded gas vs. heating oil
Eurodollar spread
Intermarket spreads involving stocks
Cross-ownership of stock
Examples of cross-ownership
Strategies for cross-ownership trades
Pairs trading in stocks
Pairs trading strategy
Risk arbitrage
Risk arb no collar
Risk arb with collar
Intermarket strategy summary

Insurance Using Derivatives

Types of Derivative Insurance
Swaps
Hedging With Futures
Portfolio Insurance With Futures
Portfolio Insurance Problems
Index Put Options As Insurance
Adjusted Volatility (Beta)
Cost Of Insurance
Summary of Index Put Insurance
Problems With Put Insurance
Using A Sector Index
Using Stock Options As Insurance
The "Collar"
Collar CAUTION!!
An Interesting Trait of LEAPS
Generalized "no-cost" collar Table
Insuring with Volatility Derivatives
VIX futures vs. VIX options
How many options VIX options to buy?
Insurance Summary

Option Models and “The Greeks”

What are "the Greeks?"
"Greeks" as risk measures
The Black-Scholes Model
Other Formulae
Other Models
Computing Implied Volatility
Theta
Call Pricing vs. Time
Call Pricing vs. Volatility
Call Pricing vs. Interest Rates
LEAPS Call Pricing vs. Rates
Computing the other "Greeks"
Gamma
Comparing Delta and Gamma
Relationships Between "Greeks"
Delta As A Function of Volatility
Delta As A Function of Time
Gamma As A Function of Time
Gamma As A Function of Volatility
Theta As A Function of Volatility
Measuring Portfolio Risk
Delta Neutral
Problems with Delta Neutral
Why Gamma Helps
Delta & Gamma Neutral
More Complex Neutrality
Projecting Risk Into The Future

Volatility Derivatives

Volatility Indices: $VIX et al
Volatility Products:
- $VIX futures
- $VIX options
- Volatility ETFs and ETNs
The $VIX calculation
The History of $VIX
Market signals using $VIX data
$VIX spike peak
Long-term trend
- $VIX Futures Details
- The Term Structure of $VIX futures
Why Does Term Structure slope upwards in bull markets?
Why do $VIX futures trade at discounts in bear markets?
$VIX Term Structure Crossover signals
$VIX weekly futures
The Construct of volatility derivatives
Trading the term structure
$VIX options
The underlying is not $VIX
Weeklys are the best hedge
The composition of VXX and other volatility ETFs
$VIX/SPY hedged strategy
with futures, options, or ETN
Calculating the proper ratio
Adjusting/Exiting the $VIX/SPY hedge

Trading Volatility

Volatility is easier to predict than stock prices
Two types of volatility -- historical and implied
Calculating implied volatility
Refresher on Vega
1st way to trade volatility: trade the skew
Volatility Skew -- definition
Price Distributions: normal, fat tails, lognormal, 2 skewed vs. normal
Markets which often display a skew
Trading the Forward Skew
Bull Spreads
Call Ratio Spreads
Put Backspreads
Ratio spreads: caution
Trading the Reverse Skew
Bear Spreads
Put Ratio Spreads
Using 3 strikes in the ratio spread
Call Backspreads
A Skewed Position is biased
Bullish/Bearish Directional Bias
What does the bias mean?
Follow-up action
Strategy Summary
2nd way to trade volatility – volatility estimate is wrong (statistically)
Owning volatility benefits from chaotic market movements
Determining if volatility is cheap or expensive
Composite implied volatility
Strategies to use when volatility is cheap; Examples: general and specific
Straddle buying procedures; Detailed example
Probability estimates; the Monte Carlo distribution
Calendar spreads are a low-vol strategy too
Bull/bear Spreads on the other hand are best when vol high
Strategies to use when volatility is expensive
Volatility Backspreads

Click on each seminar Topic above to view the seminar outline

Saturdays with McMillan: 14 Seminar Home Study Course

Saturdays with McMillan: 14 Seminar Home Study Course