More Women Turn to Options Trading
Optionetics, providers of investment education services, portfolio strategies, market analysis, and online tools that help investors understand and manage portfolio risk, contends that more women are being drawn to options trading primarily as a flexible way to supplement their income and prepare for retirement. The advent of technology, such as online trading tools, has also lowered the barrier to entry for those with the right skills, drive and education to trade options.
"Options trading used to be very expensive and much more exclusive. Today, there is no price for admission and technology is readily available, giving investors access to the information they need to trade in real time," said Christina DuBois-Nugent, options trader and top instructor at Optionetics.
DuBois-Nugent, who expressed excitement that more women are becoming successful options traders, added "The extra benefit for women is that trading offers them a flexible alternative to other professions as a way to increase their income in less time and with less stress."
According to the Options Clearing Corporation, the options industry is booming. The total number of options traded in 2005 hit a record high at 1.4 million. Today, six different options exchanges trade puts and calls. The two newest US exchanges-the Boston Options Exchange and the International Securities Exchange (ISE)-are both highly-traded options exchanges. In February 2006, options also started trading on the CBOE Volatility Index, which tracks market volatility.
However, as the door swings opens to more options traders, all investors need to educate themselves on the fundamentals before making their first trade, says Richard Cawood, CEO and co-founder of Optionetics. "Becoming an options trader isn't something that happens overnight," Cawood warns. "Like any skill, it's acquired by study and practice. At Optionetics, we not only teach our students how to trade, but when to trade and how to get out. Most important, we focus on helping students understand and manage risk."
Optionetics is defined as the science of high-profit, low-risk, low-stress trading. Strategies are based on over two dozen proving trading techniques perfected by master trader and Optionetics founder, George Fontanills.
Avoiding overly theoretical or technically complicated material, Optionetics represents a practical, balanced approach to trading profitably in today's markets. For more information about Optionetics, visit www.optionetics.com.
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FirstFed At The Top Of SNL Annual Thrift Rankings
Santa Monica, Calif-based FirstFed Financial Corp. topped SNL Financial's annual ranking of the 100 largest thrifts. FirstFed, held a top-10 spot in four of the six performance categories used by SNL to calculate the rankings.
RANK
|
COMPANY
|
TICKER
|
STATE
|
SCORE
|
|
1.
|
FirstFed Financial Corp.
|
FED
|
CA
|
90.9
|
|
2.
|
Severnbancorp Inc.
|
SVBI
|
MD
|
84.5
|
|
3.
|
PFF Bancorp Inc.
|
PFB
|
CA
|
81.6
|
|
4.
|
Washington Federal Inc.
|
WFSL
|
WA
|
81.0
|
|
5.
|
TrustCo Bank Corp NY
|
TRST
|
NY
|
80.8
|
|
6.
|
Provident Financial Holdings Inc.
|
PROV
|
CA
|
80.7
|
|
7.
|
Downey Financial Corp.
|
DSL
|
CA
|
78.6
|
|
8.
|
Coastal Financial Corp.
|
CFCP
|
SC
|
77.7
|
|
9.
|
Hudson City Bancorp Inc.
|
HCBK
|
NJ
|
76.1
|
|
9.
|
BankUnited Financial Corp.
|
BKUNA
|
FL
|
76.1
|
SNL Financial (www.snl.com) ranked the 100 largest thrifts based on six 2006 financial performance metrics. The following four categories received a 20% weighting: 1) Core return on average assets; 2) core return on average equity; 3) three-year core cash EPS growth; and 4) efficiency ratio. The ratio of nonperforming assets, including loans 90 days past due, to total assets, and net charge-offs as a percent of total loans were each weighted at 10%.
Making noteworthy appearances were controversial mortgage lenders Downey Financial Corp. at No. 7, BankUnited Financial Corp. at the No. 9 spot (tied with Hudson City), and IndyMac Bancorp at No. 13. "The rankings show how profitable it was to be in the mortgage business in 2006," said Maria Tor, senior analyst for SNL. "However, many of the companies that did so well in 2006 are now being punished in the stock market for possibly underwriting risky loans."
An entire list of the best of the biggest - the 100 largest public thrifts by asset size, ranked by financial performance for FY 2006 - are available at:
http://www.snl.com/interactivex/article.aspx?CDID=A-5681452-11364.
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