Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Part I Designing the Trade 1
Chapter 1 From Retail Trader to Professional Trader 3
Transitioning from Retail Trader to Professional Trader 5
Successful Professional Traders 16
Tightening Up Your Approach to the Markets 22
Chapter 2 Markets and Margin 25
Exchanges 27
What Does This Mean for the Market? 34
Daisy Chain Effect 37
Global Markets 42
Becoming a Sophisticated Trader 45
What Do These Changes Mean for Your Trading? 46
Chapter 3 Some Essentials of Trading 47
Three Different Types of Traders 48
A Trader's Focus 52
Essential Trading Concepts 56
Using This Book to Its Fullest Potential 63
Part II Basic Strategies 65
Chapter 4 Holding the Bull and the Bear by the Tails 67
Straddle, Strangle, and Execution 68
Getting the Right Options for the Job 75
Option Tutorial 78
Sample Straddle and Strangle Write-Up Sheets 89
Conclusion 89
Chapter 5 Precision Trading at Its Finest 91
What Is Hedge Trading? 91
Precision Trading Ground Rules 92
Identifying Market Trends 96
Conclusion 101
Chapter 6 Trading with Hard Stops 103
Stop Loss Order 104
Options as an Alternative to the Stop 106
Conclusion 110
Chapter 7 The Markets on a Leash 113
Collar 114
General Collar Pitfalls 122
Day Traders 123
Conclusion 126
Chapter 8 Replacing Traditional Options with Synthetic Options 127
Synthetic Option versus Standard Option 128
When to Use a Synthetic Option 133
Conclusion 141
Chapter 9 Everything in Its Season 143
Spread Opportunities 144
Conclusion 151
Chapter 10 Gunning for Premiums with Covered Options 153
Problems with Selling Options 154
Covered Option Trading 156
Conclusion 167
Chapter 11 Outflanking the Market 169
Frontspreads and Backspreads 170
Trading Backspreads 172
Conclusion 179
Part III Advanced Strategies 181
Chapter 12 Exposing Yourself to Loss 183
Synthetic Futures, Long-Short 183
Primary Drawbacks 188
Intercommodity Spread 188
Primary Drawbacks 193
The Bull Call Spread and Bear Put Spread 193
Primary Drawbacks 195
Conclusion 196
Chapter 13 Advanced Option Selling Strategies 197
Do 90 Percent of Options Expire Worthless? 198
What to Expect When Selling Options 200
Strangles, Straddles, or Naked Options 202
Sell Straddle 203
Sell Strangle 207
Naked Option Selling 212
Conclusion 215
Chapter 14 Retreat, Recovery, Opportunity 217
Manipulating the Strategies 219
Conclusion 242
Chapter 15 Analyzing Charts and Strategies 243
S&p 500 244
Euro 246
Gold 249
Corn 251
Oil 253
Conclusion 255
Chapter 16 Applying These Strategies with Stocks 257
Stocks 258
Strategies 261
Conclusion 266
About the Author 267
Index 269

Praise for Trade Like a Pro
"Noble's commitment to the individual trader is exactly whattraders need during these volatile times. He has knowledge thatspans across markets and is worldwide. He is a valued contributorto the TraderPlanet.com community, and this book furtherdemonstrates his dedication to educating traders and helping thembecome more successful."
--Lane J. Mendelsohn, Publisher, TraderPlanet.com
"In a time when, on a global level, important things arehappening to the financial industry, when new profit opportunitiesas well as risks are revealed, the book Trade Like a Pro offers acomplete picture concerning the risk administrationtechniques."
--Teodor Ancuta, President and General Manager, Sibiu StockExchange
"Trade Like a Pro is a comprehensive presentation of all thebasic trading strategies that belongs in every investor's library.Whether your specialty is futures, options, or stocks--or, forthat matter, a combination of all three--you will find yourselfgoing back to this valuable reference guide again and again.Everything rings true. Moreover, the author gives you the pros andcons of each respective strategy without imposing his own point ofview. Well researched and presented."
--George Angell, author of Small Stocks for Big Profits andWinning in the Futures Market
"Armed with good intentions, most new traders are unaware of therealities involved. Although there is often the belief among novicetraders that profitability will be easy, the evidence stronglysuggests otherwise. In his new book, Trade Like a Pro: 15High-Profit Trading Strategies, Noble DraKoln offers a thoughtfulapproach to making the transition from unsuccessful retail traderto the arena of the professional, which is imperative for lastingsuccess as a trader."
--Ron Rossway, President, Denver Trading Group