Stock Options for Dummies

Author : Alan R. Simon Edition : 1 Number of Pages : 336 Publisher : For Dummies List Price : $21.99 Amazon Price : $7.89 Used Price : $7.89

Product Description

• Clear, detailed explanation of the different types of stock options-pre-IPO versus post-IPO options
• Clarification of realistic tax and legal consequences to consider when handling stock options
• Descriptions that outline the purpose, pros, and cons of Employee Stock Purchase Plans, 401(k)s, and other company investment vehicles
• Warning signs to look for and why your options might turn out to be worthless
• Advice on what happens to your options if you leave the company or when your company is bought out by another
• And much more!

Customer reviews

Options for employees by .. Richard D. Estensen (wwisconsin)
This book is a review of employee options. I was hoping for a more comprehensive review that would explain options buying , trading etc.
It is adequate for the topic of employee options , but nothing else.

Misleading Title by .. Jason Briggs ()
This book, to me, was completely worthless. I purchased it thinking, like others commenting, that it was about options trading (puts, calls, etc.), not about "employee stock options" (which is what the book should be titled).
I did read the author's response to criticism about the title, and I think he has some valid points; and in return I would like to sell him a coffee table book entitled "Cats" with a cute little kitten on the front. When he opens it I'm sure he'll be happy to see that it's full of pictures and information about catepiller industrial equipment.
Also, his argument that anyone who looked at the table of contents would know what the book is about proves that he does not realize who his audience is: This is a "for dummies" book; it should be assumed that the reader knows very little about options. So, how would someone who knows extremely little about options know that chapters entitled "Stock Options: What you need to know right off the bat", Exercising your stock options", and "Finding stock option information online" are not what they are looking for?
While this book may be very useful for someone wanting information about EMPLOYEE stock options, it was completely worthless to me. Make sure it's what you're looking for before you purchase.

Misleading title by .. Carl (Boulder, CO United States)
This book is aimed at employees elegible to receive stock options in the company they work for from their employer.

It is NOT for investors wishing to buy and sell stock options through a stock broker.

Author response to "misleading title" complaints by .. Alan Simon ()
First, disregard the 5-star rating. *I* think the book is good of course, but that's not why I'm writing this comment.

To the two recent reviewers who complain that the book isn't about puts and calls but rather about ISOs, NQSOs, etc. - look, I'm sorry for your inconvenience but if you had taken about 2 minutes to skim the table of contents and the editorial review on the amazon.com page ("...your company's stock option plan..."), you would CLEARLY see what type of stock options this book discusses. In fact, taking less time to do so than it took you to write your complaint-reviews and give the book a poor review would have saved each of you $20 or whatever the book cost you.

So my sympathies to you for your misspent $, but come on: blaming the author and publisher for your own haste and, further, feeling the need to do so publicly on an amazon.com review with one- and two-star rankings? (At least the other reader who did the same thing back in August, 2003 had the courtesy to give a 5-star ranking because of the reselling experience on amazon.com to rectify his/her error.)

I sincerely hope that if you do begin to dabble in puts and calls - the other kind of stock options - that you do so with much greater care than you took in making your respective book purchases. Otherwise, you should really think twice about that side of the investing world.

To the one reader who is looking for a beginner's book about the other kind of stock options: see "Futures and Options For Dummies" by Joe Duarte. But do your homework first before buying!

Title misleading by .. M. Edington (Alton, OH)
I was misled by the title of this book am disappointed. This book is NOT for individuals who want to take their investing to the next level and start trading options on the open market, as I had expected -- rather, it is for people who are offered stock options through their employer.

If anyone knows of a good beginner's book for trading stock options, please clue me in.

Option Pricing: Black-Scholes Made Easy

Author : Jerry Marlow Edition : Pap Number of Pages : 352 Release Date : 2008-12-04 Publisher : Wiley List Price : $90.00 Amazon Price : $50.00 Used Price : $49.47

Product Description

"The animation is a good one. A deep insight into the price process pops out clearly. In my next semester course Black-Scholes Made Easy will be a useful tool for giving students the necessary intuitive view of the matter."–Professor Lucio Geronazzo, Mathematical Models for Financial Markets Il Dipartimento di Matematica per le Decisioni, Università degli Studi di Firenze

"[S]imply the best. It makes every part of Black-Scholes so understandable. I knew Black-Scholes’ option pricing model was important and use it every day in my trading, but never knew why or how it worked. [This] book and CD-ROM provided me with a clear understanding of the model, and best of all, all I needed to understand the model was a basic mathematical background and some common sense."–Dong-Wook Kim, Futures & Options Trader Equity & Derivatives Team, Hanwha Securities Co., Ltd

In 1997, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded for the work that led to the development of Black-Scholes Options Pricing theory. Black-Scholes has become the dominant way of understanding and exploiting relationships among option prices, stock forecasts, and expected stock market volatility. Now, this accessible book and CD-ROM tutorial provides traders, investors, and finance students with an intuitive, interactive approach to understanding and using the Black-Scholes model.

Integrating text and interactive computer animations and simulations that are presented in a straightforward manner, Option Pricing: Black-Scholes Made Easy teaches you the fundamentals of option valuation and dramatically shortens the learning curve for mastering and applying the theory and its analytic capabilities. Here is a sophisticated way of thinking made available to those who do not have the background necessary to do Nobel Prize—winning mathematics. You will be able to understand easily and intuitively the concepts that drive the Black-Scholes model.

From making it easy for you to see and understand that "every financial forecast is a probability distribution" to tackling myths about options pricing, calculating options’ expected returns, and providing a simple, low-risk options strategy, Option Pricing: Black-Scholes Made Easy demystifies this invaluable and profitable tool, shows you your investment odds, and teaches you how to take advantage of them.

Customer reviews

A Must-Have for Any Options Trader by .. Elise M. Sarmiento (Houston, TX USA)
This book makes it relatively easy to understand the mathematical principles behind the Black-Scholes theory. The CD guides you through various scenarios and plots everything for you. You don't have to be a mathematician with a PhD from the University of Chicago to appreciate the explanations and diagrams depicted. A "must-have" for every options trader or investor - a definite "keeper"!

Outstanding! by .. Freddy Atton (San Jose, CA USA)
Fantastic software!

The book is really a step by step tutorial on how to use the
probability forecasting software that is on the CD.

Excellent learning tool as well as a decision-analysis tool for investments.

Really great. Loved it. Learned a lot!

Many thanks to the author.

One Caution: It doesn't work on a Macintosh
(unless you have PC emulation software for your Mac).

Cheers,
---Freddy

Informative book read... by .. Vijay Maniar (Mumbai,India)
I was skeptical to buy it since there were more than 100 different books available on options... but I am glad I choose this book. Its easy and the software developed beats anything I have seen yet... All the free softwares available are excel based but do not offer such insight on the subject as this book.
I would strongly recommend it to anyone. Only hitch is that the software is bit slow to run but it performs...

Can't praise this interactive book highly enough by .. Peter Stewart (London United Kingdom)
Any student or trainee having to study this topic really should buy this tutorial.

Having a degree in Mathematics and a professional accountancy qualification did not prepare me for the explanations of Black Scholes to be found in most text books.

They may have got a Nobel prize for their option pricing model but Black and Scholes were never going to get an award for clarity of explanation.

Having grappled with this area for a few months, I decided I needed a little more innovative help; hence my purchase of Jerry Marlow's interactive tutorial.

Two days later and I feel I could go for the next Nobel prize myself!

So many things click into place so quickly, it's marvellous.

Jerry gives his email address which I had to resort to for one query. He answered most helpfully within a couple of hours.

I suspect that it helps to have had an overview appreciation of the area before starting the tutorial but this shouldn't deter first timers from starting with this.

First Rate by .. ()
The visual presentation the book offers combined with the interactive CD-ROM make this indispensable to anyone who really wants to understand how option pricing works. It's right here on my desk for easy and quick reference - which is my advice to everyone!

Stock Investing for Dummies, 2nd Edition

Author : Paul Mladjenovic Publisher : audible.com List Price : $14.95 Amazon Price : $7.85

Stock Investing For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

Author : Paul Mladjenovic Publisher : For Dummies Used Price : $70.20

Stock Options for Dummies

Author : Alan R Simon Publisher : HUNGRY MINDS IDG