I would't say 'dodgy' so much. Just that if they go bust you have no safeguards. So you can wave your money bye bye. As I said this was the case, though I don't know if anything has changed.
On the contrary. Complex options trading can be more 'safer' and profitable if you know what you are doing.
You don't say what other trading experiance you have. But what attracts people to option trading is the leverage.
I always prefer to keep things as simple as possible. So would buy calls for a market/share rise and puts for a drop of course. Then it's a natural progression and a possible need to work the trade. ie two calls with one put etc etc. After that stage it gets more complex.
The only problem with making x amount more, is that you can also lose x amount more. True you know what the maximum loss can be. But any loss is still a loss. If your max loss on a trade is £1000. It will still hurt to lose £700 if you cut the trade because of a wrong choice of direction
If you haven't traded before, I would advise against starting with options without first trying your hand at share trading. If you can't make money from shares, then your loss will be compounded from trying options.
And it used to be the case that if you didn't have a couple of years trading shares. No broker would touch you with an options account.
Look around the Liffe site. Have a look at stock futures etc. And there was a good options link developing on this site. Try a search of the boards.
And yes, I used to trade options, but I choose my 'nick' not for that reason but because I have a choice whenever I trade.
I no longer trade options. But that is all down to my data provider, which at the time was 'Updata'.
The price on my screen was different to the price my broker had in front of him. And this occured with 2 different brokers. Sometimes by as much as 50 points. And being £500 off the mark is no way to trade.
I now really only trade futures, as it suits me better. Has tighter spreads and moves quicker, where I can be in and out with one price bar move if I want.
Good luck with your trading
Options.
