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Top 5 Options Tools [Free]

Jun. 19, 2009 9:22 AM ET8 Comments
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Andrew Hart's Blog
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If you're curious about what tools can help you become a better trader look no farther than these top contenders. BigTrends analysts and staff have tested all components to ensure the 'free' claim is warranted and the value is tangible. As an options trader there aren't too many free resources available but BigTrends is always looking for the resources that help you progress as a trader while growing your mental capital.

Look for more in-depth reviews of the top options tools in the coming months. As part of our new website we'll be delivering trader tech reviews monthly on anything and everything for traders. We'll be reviewing trading platforms, options tools as well as anything our readers want to see. Start the blog roll now and place your comments below, what do you want to see reviewed?

1. OptionsOracle - The most comprehensive (free) options trading tool out there, Options Oracle, can help traders screen for and visualize options strategies. SamoaSky, the creator of Options Oracle sums up the software well...

Elevator Pitch: OptionsOracle is free tool for stock options trading strategy analysis, built for options traders.' What I like most about OptionsOracle is its ease of use and customizable interface. The software uses Yahoo! Finance as the data feed by default but you can integrate your brokers live data with a little work. Here's a quick rundown of the best features for options traders


• OPTIONS TRADING SCREENER
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• VOLATILITY ANALYZER


• OPTIONS GREEKS CALCULATOR
• PORTFOLIO MANAGER
• STRATEGY ANALYSIS
• OPTIONS PAIN ANALYSIS
• VOLATILITY SMILE GRAPH


2. TrixyCharts - These free interactive charts on the new BigTrends.com are incredible and include stocks screens and artificial intelligence that matches stocks based on patterns. The great innovators over at Vestly Software have created a masterpiece in non-software based (browser based) charting with Trixy, but they've also got another tool well worth the mention called StockFetcher.com. You can find a more in-depth review of TrixyCharts from a previous Daily TrendWatch in options tools.

We provided a full review of TrixyCharts on BigTrends.com earlier this year, you can check out the full review here. Price Headley uses TrixyCharts for the Weekly Market Outlook Video found in BigTV.

3. TradeLogger - Many traders lack the money management component in their trading plans. As a BigTrends coach I see this as the major weakness far too often, TradeLogger is a great resource for traders to help minimize portfolio drawdowns while mitigating the psychological draw downs that accompany periods of system inefficiency. TradeLogger uses the equity curve of your portfolio value to signal when to paper trade or live trade. Equity curve management is covered as a part of our 50 course coaching program, but you can get a jumpstart by using this awesome tool today.

Elevator Pitch: An all-in-one trade recorder and equity curve money management system. In its simplicity, TradeLogger keeps a record of your current trading performance and advises you when you should stop trading with live capital, and when to resume trading live.

4. Optionistics.com - If you're in the no-software camp and are looking for a great resource look no further than Optionistics.com. There's some overlap here with OptionsOracle but there is one significant outlying tool that I use. The options price history charts are very useful, just type in the symbol for your option strike and receive a free historical price chart. This is incredibly helpful for two reasons, first it's the only way to retrieve accurate prices for system testing and second its a great way to visualize specific options that are accelerating in value. Overall Optionistics deserves and entire review unto itself, the amazing tools are vast, from Strike Peggers to Open Interest % Change tools. Don't fret though we know you're a chart fanatic (visual learners unite)...here's more visual candy to get the point across.

5. Finviz.com - Rounding out the top five free tools for options traders is a phenomenal stock screener. Finviz (Financial Visualization) provides an unrivaled screener and cool heat maps on the market. From a trading perspective Finviz helps with the FOCUS factor in trading. Many traders seek to trade certain types of stocks based on three main categories; Descriptive, Fundamental or Technical.

The screener options are second to none. I use the Finviz screener to maintain a core group of stocks and ETFs using a mix of six different conditions. Here's a list of the screens you can start using now.

Descriptive: Exchange, Market Cap, Earnings Date, Index, Dividend Yield, Average Volume, Sector, Float Short, Relative Volume, Industry, Analyst Recommendation, Current Volume, Country, Optionable, Shortable, Price

Technical: Performance, 20/50/200 Day SMA, 20 Day high/low Beta, Average True Range, Volatility, 1 Year high/low, Gaps

Fundamental: Price/Earnings, Forward P/E, Price/ Cash, ROE, ROI, PEG, P/S P/B, EPS growth this year, next or five year, Current Ratio, Quick Ratio, Payout Ratio, Net Profit Margin, Insider Ownership, Insider Transactions, Institutional Ownership and more...

Today's Heatmap for SP500

What are you waiting for, start using these tools now to become a better trader tomorrow!

Andrew Hart - Portfolio Manager

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