The Complete Option Player

by Kenneth R. Trester

The Complete Option Player is one of the best selling options books ever. This newly updated classic will show you how to play the options game where profits of 100% or more are not unusual and where you can earn profits of 100% to 300% on any one trading day. This comprehensive book makes options easy with its witty easy-to-read style. It includes more than 20 illustrations and cartoons to ease your understanding of options trading. Discover secrets like: "How you can buy winning options for less than $100!" How you can design options strategies that win, regardless of what the market does; "How you can avoid the risks of owning common stock, but receive most of the same benefits."

513 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 1977

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book if you are boring and stodgy like me -or- if you would enjoy learning different strategies to invest using derivatives.

[Andrew Mueller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ken has some solid basic psychological overviews of trading concepts, but the text is pretty dated with its examples in fractions and cited studies from the 70's. I was still able to pull a few valuable nuggets from the book so I found it worth the $5 I paid for it. The bottom line is that in my opinion there are much better books for options beginners. I found this book more valuable as an intermediate-level options trader.

This 4th Edition is fairly old now, and he recently released a 5th edition. But I've read that the latest edition is still very antiquated and little more than a constant sales pitch for his weekly newsletter (About which its subscribers had nothing but bad things to say).

My biggest complaint is that the book is all over the place from chapter to chapter. He seems to skip around a lot and revisit topics - it feels disorganized. If you are looking for a particular topic, you might have to visit several different chapters to read all he has to say on the subject.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction book for learning the basics of option trading. Leaves a lot to be desired as far as more complex issues such as pricing options and using Greeks. But overall a well written book for beginners.