. 1. In the world of stock analysis, fundamental and technical analysis are on completely opposite sides of the spectrum.

Earnings, expenses, assets and liabilities are all important characteristics to fundamental analysts, whereas technical analysts could not care less about these numbers. Which strategy works best is always debated, and many volumes of textbooks have been written on both of these methods. So, do some reading and decide for yourself which strategy works best with your investment philosophy.

2.

Technical analysis and fundamental analysis are the two main schools of thought in the financial markets. As we've mentioned, technical analysis looks at the price movement of a security and uses this data to predict its future price movements. Fundamental analysis, on the other hand, looks at economic factors, known as fundamentals. Let's get into the details of how these two approaches differ, the criticisms against technical analysis and how technical and fundamental analysis can be used together to analyze securities.

The Differences Charts vs. Financial Statements At the most basic level, a technical analyst approaches a security from the charts, while a fundamental analyst starts with the financial statements. (For further reading, see Introduction To Fundamental Analysis and Advanced Financial Statement Analysis.)

By looking at the balance sheet, cash flow statement and income statement, a fundamental analyst tries to determine a company's value. In financial terms, an analyst attempts to measure a company's intrinsic value. In this approach, investment decisions are fairly easy to make - if the price of a stock trades below its intrinsic value, it's a good investment. Although this is an oversimplification (fundamental analysis goes beyond just the financial statements) for the purposes of this tutorial, this simple tenet holds true.

Technical traders, on the other hand, believe there is no reason to analyze a company's

fundamentals because these are all accounted for in the stock's price. Technicians believe that all the information they need about a stock can be found in its charts.

Time Horizon Fundamental analysis takes a relatively long-term approach to analyzing the market compared to technical analysis. While technical analysis can be used on a timeframe of weeks, days or even minutes, fundamental analysis often looks at data over a number of years.

The different timeframes that these two approaches use is a result of the nature of the investing style to which they each adhere. It can take a long time for a company's value to be reflected in the market, so when a fundamental analyst estimates intrinsic value, a gain is not realized until the stock's market price rises to its "correct" value. This type of investing is called value investing and assumes that the short-term market is wrong, but that the price of a particular stock will correct itself over the long run. This "long run" can represent a timeframe of as long as several years, in some cases. (For more insight, read Warren Buffett: How He Does It and What Is Warren Buffett's Investing Style?)

Furthermore, the numbers that a fundamentalist analyzes are only released over long periods of time. Financial statements are filed quarterly and changes in earnings per share don't emerge on a daily basis like price and volume information. Also remember that fundamentals are the actual characteristics of a business. New management can't implement sweeping changes overnight and it takes time to create new products, marketing campaigns, supply chains, etc. Part of the reason that fundamental analysts use a long-term timeframe, therefore, is because the data they use to analyze a stock is generated much more slowly than the price and volume data used by technical analysts.

Trading Versus Investing Not only is technical analysis more short term in nature than fundamental analysis, but the

goals of a purchase (or sale) of a stock are usually different for each approach. In general, technical analysis is used for a trade, whereas fundamental analysis is used to make an investment. Investors buy assets they believe can increase in value, while traders buy assets they believe they can sell to somebody else at a greater price. The line between a trade and an investment can be blurry, but it does characterize a difference between the two schools.

The Critics Some critics see technical analysis as a form of black magic. Don't be surprised to see them question the validity of the discipline to the point where they mock its supporters. In fact, technical analysis has only recently begun to enjoy some mainstream credibility. While most analysts on Wall Street focus on the fundamental side, just about any major brokerage now employs technical analysts as well.

Much of the criticism of technical analysis has its roots in academic theory - specifically the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). This theory says that the market's price is always the correct one - any past trading information is already reflected in the price of the stock and, therefore, any analysis to find undervalued securities is useless.

There are three versions of EMH. In the first, called weak form efficiency, all past price information is already included in the current price. According to weak form efficiency, technical analysis can't predict future movements because all past information has already been accounted for and, therefore, analyzing the stock's past price movements will provide no insight into its future movements. In the second, semi-strong form efficiency, fundamental analysis is also claimed to be of little use in finding investment opportunities. The third is strong form efficiency, which states that all information in the market is accounted for in a stock's price and neither technical nor fundamental analysis can provide investors with an edge. The vast majority of academics believe in at least the weak version of EMH, therefore, from their point of view, if technical analysis works, market efficiency will

be called into question. (For more insight, read What Is Market Efficiency? and Working Through The Efficient Market Hypothesis.)

There is no right answer as to who is correct. There are arguments to be made on both sides and, therefore, it's up to you to do the homework and determine your own philosophy.

Can They Co-Exist? Although technical analysis and fundamental analysis are seen by many as polar opposites the oil and water of investing - many market participants have experienced great success by combining the two. For example, some fundamental analysts use technical analysis techniques to figure out the best time to enter into an undervalued security. Oftentimes, this situation occurs when the security is severely oversold. By timing entry into a security, the gains on the investment can be greatly improved.

Alternatively, some technical traders might look at fundamentals to add strength to a technical signal. For example, if a sell signal is given through technical patterns and indicators, a technical trader might look to reaffirm his or her decision by looking at some key fundamental data. Oftentimes, having both the fundamentals and technicals on your side can provide the best-case scenario for a trade.

While mixing some of the components of technical and fundamental analysis is not well received by the most devoted groups in each school, there are certainly benefits to at least understanding both schools of thought.

3. Comparison chart
Investors use techniques of fundamental analysis or technical analysis (or often both) to make stock trading decisions. Fundamental analysis attempts to calculate the intrinsic value of a stock using data such as revenue, expenses, growth prospects and the competitive landscape, while technical analysis uses past market activity and stock price trends to predict activity in the future. Improve this chart Definiti on: Data gathere d from: Stock bought:

Fundamental Analysis Technical Analysis

Calculates stock value using economic factors, Uses price movement of security to predict futur known as fundamentals. movements Financial statements Charts

When price falls below intrinsic value

When trader believes they can sell it on for a hig

Time Long-term approach horizon: Functio n: Investing

Short-term approach

Trade

Concept Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets s used: (ROA) Exampl e:

Dow Theory, Price Data

iPhone Evaluation AOL from November 2001 through August 2002 (http://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com/2012/0 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_analysis# 8/apples-crown-jewel-valuing-iphone.html ) in_trends) looks backward as well as forward looks backward

Vision:

The key difference between technical analysis and fundamental analysis are as follows. 1. Technical analysis mainly seeks to predict short-term price movements,

whereas fundamental analysis tries to establish along term values. 2. The focus of technical analysis is mainly on internal market data, particularly

price and volume data. The focus of fundamental analysis is on fundamental factors relating to the economy, the Industry and the firm. 3. Technical analysis appeals mostly to short term traders, whereas fundamental

analysis appeals primarily to long term investor. 4. Technical analyst looks backward whereas fundamental analysis looks forward

as well as backward. 5. Technical analyst thinks that stocks market behavior is 10% logical and 90%

psychological whereas fundamental analyst thinks that the stocks market is 90% logical and 10% psychological. Famous / Renowned Investors like Warren Buffet, Raamdeo Agarwal, Ramesh Damani, Peter Lynch rely mainly on fundamental analysis while making investment decision.
Meaning
Fundamental analysis is a method of evaluating a company's stock in order to find its intrinsic value, and analyze the factors that might affect the stock price in the future. Technical analysis, on the other hand, is a statistical method used to find pattern sand predict future movements based on past market data.

Methodology
Fundamental analysis is done mainly by examining the financial data of the company,and other factors like industry trends, competitors' performance, country's economic outlook, etc. Technical analysis, however, asserts that there is almost no need to conduct fundamental research, as most of the factors are accounted for in the price of the stock. It therefore refers to only past price movements and market psychology to come to a conclusion.

Time horizon

Fundamental analysis takes a long-term approach, while technical analysis has a short-term view. The former looks at how various factors will impact the stock price in a long duration (mostly in years), and the latter focuses on predicting the immediate(weeks, days and sometimes even minutes) price movements.

Users
Since fundamental analysis examines all the factors that will impact the stock price in the years to come, it is mainly used by investors who have a long-term view.However, technical analysis is used by a different set of people. Traders and short-term investors rely on this method, as it serves as a tool for forecasting price movements in the near future.

Explain the concept of Beta.

measure of the volatility, or systematic risk, of a security or a portfolio in comparison to the market as a whole. Beta is used in the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), a model that

calculates the expected return of an asset based on its beta and expected market returns. Also known as "beta coefficient." Beta is calculated using regression analysis, and you can think of beta as the tendency of a security's returns to respond to swings in the market. A beta of 1 indicates that the security's price will move with the market. A beta of less than 1 means that the security will be less volatile than the market. A beta of greater than 1 indicates that the security's price will be more volatile than the market. For example, if a stock's beta is 1.2, it's theoretically 20% more volatile than the market.

Many utilities stocks have a beta of less than 1. Conversely, most high-tech, Nasdaqbased stocks have a beta of greater than 1, offering the possibility of a higher rate of return, but also posing more risk. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility in relation

to the market. By definition, the market has a beta of 1.0, and individual stocks are ranked according to how much they deviate from the market. A stock that swings more than the market over time has a beta above 1.0. If a stock moves less than the market, the stock's beta is less than 1.0. High-beta stocks are supposed to be riskier but provide a potential for higher returns; low-beta stocks pose less risk but also lower returns.

Beta is a key component for the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), which is used to calculate cost of equity. Recall that the cost of capital represents the discount rate used to arrive at the present value of a company's future cash flows. All things being equal, the higher a company's beta is, the higher its cost of capital discount rate. The higher the discount rate, the lower the present value placed on the company's future cash flows. In short, beta can impact a company's share valuation.

Refer ppt on scribd also

4. Write a short note on the following: (a) Dow Theory
The Dow theory has been around for almost 100 years, yet even in today's volatile and technology-driven markets, the basic components of Dow theory still remain valid. Developed by Charles Dow, refined by William Hamilton and articulated by Robert Rhea, the Dow theory addresses not only technical analysis and price action, but also market philosophy. Many of the ideas and comments put forth by Dow and Hamilton became axioms of Wall Street. While there are those who may think that it is different this time, a read through The Dow Theory will attest that the stock market behaves the same today as it did almost 100 years ago. The Dow theory presented below has been taken from Robert Rhea's book, The Dow Theory. Although Dow theory is attributed to Charles Dow, it is William Hamilton's writings that serve as the corner stone for this book and the development of the theory. Also, it should be noted that most of the theory was developed with the Dow Jones Rail and Industrial averages in mind. Even though many concepts can be applied to individual stocks, please keep in mind that these are broad concepts and best applied to stocks as a group or index. When possible, we have also attempted to link some of the realities of today's market with the Dow theory as explained by Dow, Hamilton and Rhea.

Background
Charles Dow developed the Dow theory from his analysis of market price action in the late 19th century. Until his death in 1902, Dow was part owner as well as editor of The Wall Street Journal. Although he never wrote a book on the subject, he did write some editorials that reflected his views on speculation and the role of the rail and industrial averages. Even though Charles Dow is credited with developing the Dow theory, it was S.A. Nelson and William Hamilton who later refined the theory into what it is today. Nelson wrote The ABC of Stock Speculation and was the first to actually use the term "Dow theory." Hamilton further refined the theory through a series of articles in The Wall Street Journal from 1902 to 1929. Hamilton also wrote The Stock Market Barometer in 1922, which sought to explain the theory in detail. In 1932, Robert Rhea further refined the analysis of Dow and Hamilton in The Dow Theory. Rhea read, studied and deciphered some 252 editorials through which Dow (1900-1902) and Hamilton (1902-1929) conveyed their thoughts on the market. Rhea also referred to Hamilton's The Stock Market Barometer. The Dow Theory presents the Dow theory as a set of assumptions and theorems.

Assumptions
Before one can begin to accept the Dow theory, there are a number of assumptions that must be accepted. Rhea stated that for the successful application of the Dow theory, these assumptions must be accepted without reservation.

Manipulation
The first assumption is: The manipulation of the primary trend is not possible. When large amounts of money are at stake, the temptation to manipulate is bound to be present. Hamilton did not argue against the possibility that speculators, specialists or anyone else involved in the markets could manipulate the prices. He

qualified his assumption by asserting that it was not possible to manipulate the primary trend. Intraday, day-today and possibly even secondary movements could be prone to manipulation. These short movements, from a few hours to a few weeks, could be subject to manipulation by large institutions, speculators, breaking news or rumors. Today, Hamilton would likely add message boards and day-traders to this list. Hamilton went on to say that individual shares could be manipulated. Examples of manipulation usually end the same way: the security runs up and then falls back and continues the primary trend. Examples include: PairGain Technology rose sharply due to a hoax posted on a fake Bloomberg site. However, once the hoax was revealed, the stock immediately fell back and returned to its primary trend. Books-A-Million rose from 3 to 47 after announcing an improved web site. Three weeks later, the stock settled around 10 and drifted lower from there. In 1979/80, there was an attempt to manipulate the price of silver by the Hunt brothers. Silver skyrocketed to over 50$ per ounce, only to come back down to earth and resume its long bear market after the plot to corner the market was unveiled.

While these shares were manipulated over the short term, the long-term trends prevailed after about a month. Hamilton also pointed out that even if individual shares were being manipulated, it would be virtually impossible to manipulate the market as a whole. The market was simply too big for this to occur.

Market Movements
Dow and Hamilton identified three types of price movements for the Dow Jones Industrial and Rail averages: primary movements, secondary movements and daily fluctuations. Primary moves last from a few months to many years and represent the broad underlying trend of the market. Secondary (or reaction) movements last from a few weeks to a few months and move counter to the primary trend. Daily fluctuations can move with or against the primary trend and last from a few hours to a few days, but usually not more than a week.

Primary Movement
Primary movements represent the broad underlying trend of the market and can last from a few months to many years. These movements are typically referred to as bull and bear markets. Once the primary trend has been identified, it will remain in effect until proved otherwise. (We will address the methods for identifying the primary trend later in this article.) Hamilton believed that the length and the duration of the trend were largely indeterminable. Hamilton did study the averages and came up with some general guidelines for length and duration, but warned against attempting to apply these as rules for forecasting. Many traders and investors get hung up on price and time targets. The reality of the situation is that nobody knows where and when the primary trend will end. The objective of Dow theory is to utilize what we do know, not to haphazardly guess about what we don't know. Through a set of guidelines, Dow theory enables investors to identify the primary trend and invest accordingly. Trying to predict the length and the duration of the trend is an exercise in futility. Hamilton and Dow were mainly interested in catching the big moves of the primary trend. Success, according to Hamilton and Dow, is measured by the ability to identify the primary trend and stay with it.

Secondary Movements
Secondary movements run counter to the primary trend and are reactionary in nature. In a bull market a secondary move is considered a correction. In a bear market, secondary moves are sometimes called reaction rallies. Earlier in this article, a chart of Coca-Cola was used to illustrate reaction rallies (or secondary movements) within the confines of a primary bear trend. Below is a chart illustrating a correction within the confines of a primary bull trend.

Criticisms of Dow Theory

The first criticism of the Dow theory is that it is really not a theory. Neither Dow nor Hamilton wrote proper academic papers outlining the theory and testing the theorems. The ideas of Dow and

Hamilton were put forth through their editorials in the Wall Street Journal. Robert Rhea stitched the theory together by poring over these writings. Secondly, the Dow theory is criticized for being too late. The trend does not change from bearish to bullish until the previous reaction high has been surpassed. Many traders feel that this is simply too late and misses much of the move. Dow and Hamilton sought to catch the meat of the move and enter during the second leg. Even though this is where the bulk of the move will take place, it is also after the first leg and part way into the second leg. And, if one has to wait for confirmation from the other average, it could even be later in the move. Thirdly, because it uses the DJIA and DJTA, the Dow theory is criticized as being outdated and no longer an accurate reflection of the economy. This may be a valid point, but as outlined earlier, the DJTA is one of the most economically sensitive indices. The stock market has always been seen as a great predictor of economic growth. To at least keep the industrials up to speed, Home Depot, Intel, Microsoft and SBC Corp have been added to the average to replace Chevron, Goodyear, Sears and Union Carbide, as of 1-Nov-99.

Conclusions
The goal of Dow and Hamilton was to identify the primary trend and catch the big moves. They understood that the market was influenced by emotion and prone to over-reaction both up and down. With this in mind, they concentrated on identification and following: identify the trend and then follow the trend. The trend is in place until proved otherwise. That is when the trend will end, when it is proved otherwise. Dow theory helps investors identify facts, not make assumptions or forecast. It can be dangerous when investors and traders begin to assume. Predicting the market is a difficult, if not impossible, game. Hamilton readily admitted that the Dow theory was not infallible. While Dow theory may be able to form the foundation for analysis, it is meant as a starting point for investors and traders to develop analysis guidelines that they are comfortable with and understand. Reading the markets is an empirical science. As such there will be exceptions to the theorems put forth by Hamilton and Dow. They believed that success in the markets required serious study and analysis that would be fraught with successes and failures. Success is a great thing, but don't get too smug about it. Failures, while painful, should be looked upon as learning experiences. Technical analysis is an art form and the eye grows keener with practice. Study both successes and failures with an eye to the future.

Within technical analysis, Dow Theory is one of the classic methods to analyse the trend of the market. Charles Dow, the originator of the principles of the Dow Theory, used two indices; the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Dow Jones Transportation Average to determine the overall health of the US economy. It is thus not surprising that the first and basic tenet of Dow Theory is that the two indices must confirm each other's direction. But what does it say about last year's stock market rally? Are we still in a bear market environment? The rising peaks and rising troughs since the March 2009 low suggest that we have moved to a strong secondary bull market. But let us first go back in history. Dow combined various indexes in the search of the underlying trend of the market as a whole. Moreover, his conviction was that only the closing price of the day is important and he was not interested in what happened during a trading session. He was, therefore, only plotting the closing prices of the averages as they discount all known factors that affect supply and demand in the market.

(b) Options
A financial derivative that represents a contract sold by one party (option writer) to another party (option holder). The contract offers the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy (call) or sell (put) a security or other financial asset at an agreed-upon price (the strike price) during a certain period of time or on a specific date (exercise date).

Call options give the option to buy at certain price, so the buyer would want the stock to go up. Put options give the option to sell at a certain price, so the buyer would want the stock to go down. Options are extremely versatile securities that can be used in many different ways. Traders use options to speculate, which is a relatively risky practice, while hedgers use options to reduce the risk of holding an asset. In terms of speculation, option buyers and writers have conflicting views regarding the outlook on the performance of an underlying security. For example, because the option writer will need to provide the underlying shares in the event that the stock's market price will exceed the strike, an option writer that sells a call option believes that the underlying stock's price will drop relative to the option's strike price during the life of the option, as that is how he or she will reap maximum profit.

This is exactly the opposite outlook of the option buyer. The buyer believes that the underlying stock will rise, because if this happens, the buyer will be able to acquire the stock for a lower price and then sell it for a profit. An option is a contract that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell anunderlying asset at a specific price on or before a certain date. An option, just like a stock or bond, is a security. It is also a binding contract with strictly defined terms and properties. Still confused? The idea behind an option is present in many everyday situations. Say, for example, that you discover a house that you'd love to purchase. Unfortunately, you won't have the cash to buy it for another three months. You talk to the owner and negotiate a deal that gives you an option to buy the house in three months for a price of $200,000. The owner agrees, but for this option, you pay a price of $3,000. Now, consider two theoretical situations that might arise: 1. It's discovered that the house is actually the true birthplace of Elvis! As a result, the market value of the house skyrockets to $1 million. Because the owner sold you the option, he is obligated to sell you the house for $200,000. In the end, you stand to make a profit of $797,000 ($1 million - $200,000 - $3,000). 2. While touring the house, you discover not only that the walls are chock-full of asbestos, but also that the ghost of Henry VII haunts the master bedroom; furthermore, a family of super-intelligent rats have built a fortress in the basement. Though you originally thought you had found the house of your dreams, you now consider it worthless. On the upside, because you bought an option, you are under no obligation to go through with the sale. Of course, you still lose the $3,000 price of the option. This example demonstrates two very important points. First, when you buy an option, you have a right but not an obligation to do something. You can always let the expiration date go by, at which point the option becomes worthless. If this happens, you lose 100% of your investment, which is the money you used to pay for the option. Second, an option is merely a contract that deals with an underlying asset. For this reason, options are called derivatives, which means an option derives its value from something else. In our example, the house is the underlying asset. Most of the time, the underlying asset is a stock or an index. Calls and Puts The two types of options are calls and puts:

1. A call gives the holder the right to buy an asset at a certain price within a specific period
of time. Calls are similar to having a long position on a stock. Buyers of calls hope that the stock will increase substantially before the option expires. 2. A put gives the holder the right to sell an asset at a certain price within a specific period of time. Puts are very similar to having a short position on a stock. Buyers of puts hope that the price of the stock will fall before the option expires.

Participants in the Options Market There are four types of participants in options markets depending on the position they take: 1. 2. 3. 4. Buyers of calls Sellers of calls Buyers of puts Sellers of puts

People who buy options are called holders and those who sell options are called writers; furthermore, buyers are said to have long positions, and sellers are said to have short positions. Here is the important distinction between buyers and sellers: Call holders and put holders (buyers) are not obligated to buy or sell. They have the choice to exercise their rights if they choose. Call writers and put writers (sellers), however, are obligated to buy or sell. This means that a seller may be required to make good on a promise to buy or sell. Don't worry if this seems confusing - it is. For this reason we are going to look at options from the point of view of the buyer. Selling options is more complicated and can be even riskier. At this point, it is sufficient to understand that there are two sides of an options contract. The Lingo To trade options, you'll have to know the terminology associated with the options market. The price at which an underlying stock can be purchased or sold is called the strike price. This is the price a stock price must go above (for calls) or go below (for puts) before a position can be exercisedfor a profit. All of this must occur before the expiration date. An option that is traded on a national options exchange such as the Chicago Board Options Exchange(CBOE) is known as a listed option. These have fixed strike prices and expiration dates. Each listed option represents 100 shares of company stock (known as a contract). For call options, the option is said to be in-the-money if the share price is above the strike price. A put option is in-the-money when the share price is below the strike price. The amount by which an option is in-the-money is referred to as intrinsic value. The total cost (the price) of an option is called the premium. This price is determined by factors including the stock price, strike price, time remaining until expiration (time value) and volatility. Because of all these factors, determining the premium of an option is complicated and beyond the scope of this tutorial. There are two main reasons why an investor would use options: to speculate and to hedge. Speculation You can think of speculation as betting on the movement of a security. The advantage of options is that you aren't limited to making a profit only when the market goes up. Because of

the versatility of options, you can also make money when the market goes down or even sideways. Speculation is the territory in which the big money is made - and lost. The use of options in this manner is the reason options have the reputation of being risky. This is because when you buy an option, you have to be correct in determining not only the direction of the stock's movement, but also the magnitude and the timing of this movement. To succeed, you must correctly predict whether a stock will go up or down, and you have to be right about how much the price will change as well as the time frame it will take for all this to happen. And don't forget commissions! The combinations of these factors means the odds are stacked against you. So why do people speculate with options if the odds are so skewed? Aside from versatility, it's all about using leverage. When you are controlling 100 shares with one contract, it doesn't take much of a price movement to generate substantial profits. Hedging The other function of options is hedging. Think of this as an insurance policy. Just as you insure your house or car, options can be used to insure your investments against a downturn. Critics of options say that if you are so unsure of your stock pick that you need a hedge, you shouldn't make the investment. On the other hand, there is no doubt that hedging strategies can be useful, especially for large institutions. Even the individual investor can benefit. Imagine that you wanted to take advantage of technology stocks and their upside, but say you also wanted to limit any losses. By using options, you would be able to restrict your downside while enjoying the full upside in a cost-effective way. (For more on this, see Married Puts: A Protective Relationship and A Beginner's Guide To Hedging.) A Word on Stock Options Although employee stock options aren't available to everyone, this type of option could, in a way, be classified as a third reason for using options. Many companies use stock options as a way to attract and to keep talented employees, especially management. They are similar to regular stock options in that the holder has the right but not the obligation to purchase company stock. The contract, however, is between the holder and the company, whereas a normal option is a contract between two parties that are completely unrelated to the company. (To learn more, see The "True" Cost Of Stock Options.) There are two main types of options: American options can be exercised at any time between the date of purchase and the expiration date. The example about Cory's Tequila Co. is an example of the use of an American option. Most exchange-traded options are of this type. European options are different from American options in that they can only be exercised at the end of their lives. The distinction between American and European options has nothing to do with geographic location.

Long-Term Options So far we've only discussed options in a short-term context. There are also options with holding times of one, two or multiple years, which may be more appealing for long-term investors. These options are called long-term equity anticipation securities (LEAPS). By providing opportunities to control and manage risk or even to speculate, LEAPS are virtually identical to regular options. LEAPS, however, provide these opportunities for much longer periods of time. Although they are not available on all stocks, LEAPS are available on most widely held issues. Exotic Options The simple calls and puts we've discussed are sometimes referred to as plain vanilla options. Even though the subject of options can be difficult to understand at first, these plain vanilla options are as easy as it gets! Because of the versatility of options, there are many types and variations of options. Nonstandard options are called exotic options, which are either variations on the payoff profiles of the plain vanilla options or are wholly different products with "option-ality" embedded in them. (To learn more, seeBecoming Fluent In Options And Futures and What's the difference between a regular option and an exotic option?)

Summary
An option is a contract giving the buyer the right but not the obligation to buy or sell anunderlying asset at a specific price on or before a certain date. Options are derivatives because they derive their value from an underlying asset. A call gives the holder the right to buy an asset at a certain price within a specific period of time. A put gives the holder the right to sell an asset at a certain price within a specific period of time. There are four types of participants in options markets: buyers of calls, sellers of calls, buyers of puts, and sellers of puts. Buyers are often referred to as holders and sellers are also referred to as writers. The price at which an underlying stock can be purchased or sold is called the strike price. The total cost of an option is called the premium, which is determined by factors including the stock price, strike price and time remaining until expiration. A stock option contract represents 100 shares of the underlying stock. Investors use options both to speculate and hedge risk. Employee stock options are different from listed options because they are a contract between the company and the holder. (Employee stock options do not involve any third parties.) The two main classifications of options are American and European. Long term options are known as LEAPS.