Risk Disclosure
We believe it is imperative that you
read and fully understand the following
risks of trading and investing:
GENERAL RISKS OF TRADING AND INVESTING
All securities trading, whether in stocks, options, or
other investment vehicles, is speculative in nature and
involves substantial risk of loss. We encourage our
subscribers to invest carefully and to utilize the
information available at the websites of the Securities and
Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov and the National
Association of Securities Dealers at www.nasd.com.
You can review public companies filings at the SEC's EDGAR
page. The NASD has published information on how to invest
carefully at its website. We also encourage you to get
personal advice from your professional investment advisor
and to make independent investigations before acting on
information that we publish. Most of our information is
derived directly from information published by companies or
submitted to governmental agencies on which we analyze
and/or rate from other sources we believe are reliable,
without our independent verification. Therefore, we cannot
assure you that the information is accurate or complete. We
do not in any way warrant or guarantee the success of any
action you take in reliance on our statements, ratings, or
recommendations.
- You may lose money trading and
investing. Trading and investing in securities is always
risky. For that reason, you should trade or invest only
"risk capital" -- money you can afford to lose. While this
is an individual matter, we recommend that you risk no more
than 10% of your liquid net worth -- and, in some cases,
you should risk less than that. For example, if 10% of your
liquid net worth represents your entire retirement savings,
you should not use that amount to buy and sell securities.
Trading stock and stock options involves HIGH RISK and YOU
can LOSE a lot of money.
- Past performance is not
necessarily indicative of future results. All investments
carry risk and all trading decisions of an individual
remain the responsibility of that individual. There is no
guarantee that systems, indicators, or trading signals will
result in profits or that they will not result in losses.
All investors are advised to fully understand all risks
associated with any kind of trading or investing they
choose to do.
- Hypothetical or simulated performance
is not indicative of future results. Unless specifically
noted otherwise, all profit examples provided in the our
websites and publications are based on hypothetical or
simulated trading, which means they are done on paper or
electronically based on real market prices at the time the
recommendation is disseminated to the subscribers of this
service, but without actual money being invested. Also,
such examples do not include the costs of subscriptions,
commissions, and other fees, or examples of other
recommendations as to which there were losses utilizing the
timing at the time of the recommendations. Because the
trades underlying these examples have not actually been
executed, the results may understate or overstate the
impact of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity
(discussed below). Simulated trading programs in general
are also designed with the benefit of hindsight, which may
not be relevant to actual trading. We make no
representations or warranties that any account will or is
likely to achieve profits similar to those shown, because
hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily
indicative of future results.
- Don't enter any trade
without fully understanding the worst-case scenarios of
that trade. Trading securities like stock options can be
extremely complicated, so make sure you understand these
trades before entering into them. For example, aggressive
positions in options have a greater probability of losing,
while less aggressive positions are less likely to yield
substantial profits. Similarly, far out-of-the-money
options are unlikely to finish in the money, and options
purchased close to their expiration dates are very high-
risk and, thus, likely to win big or lose big very quickly.
Don't enter any trade without fully understanding the
worst-case scenarios of that trade.
- We are a
financial publisher and do not provide personalized trading
or investment advice. We are a financial publisher. We
publish information regarding companies in which we believe
our subscribers may be interested and our reports reflect
our sincere opinions. However, the information in our
publications is not intended to be personalized
recommendations to buy, hold, or sell securities. As a
financial publisher, we are not legally permitted to offer
personalized trading or investment advice to our
subscribers. If a subscriber chooses to engage in trading
or investing that he or she does not fully understand, we
may not advise the subscriber on what to do to salvage a
position gone wrong. We also may not address winning
positions or personal trading or investing ideas with
subscribers. Therefore, subscribers will need to depend on
their own mastery of the details of trading and investing
in order to handle problematic situations that may arise,
including the consultation of their own brokers and
advisors as they deem appropriate.
- Profits can be
lost if they are not taken at the right time. Subscribers
are advised to take profits at whatever point they deem
optimal, regardless of the profit target set in any given
recommendation. Advisory services such as those we offer
provide recommendations. Subscribers are free to follow the
recommendation, follow it in part, or ignore it altogether.
If a subscriber believes a given profit is at risk, the
subscriber should take the profit. Similarly, if a
subscriber feels a position is likely to lose value, or a
losing position is likely to fall further, the subscriber
can choose to exit at any time to preserve capital. The
final decision as to when to take profits remains in the
sole discretion of the subscriber, keeping in mind that
profits can be lost if they are not taken at the right
time.
RISKS OF INVESTING IN STOCK
Investments always entail
some degree of risk. Be aware that:
- Some investments
in stock cannot easily be sold or converted to cash. Check
to see if there is any penalty or charge if you must sell
an investment quickly.
- Investments in stock issued by
a company with little or no operating history or published
information involves greater risk than investing in a
public company with an operating history and extensive
public information. There are additional risks if that is a
low priced stock with a limited trading market, e.g., so-
called penny stocks.
- Stock investments, including
mutual funds, are not federally insured against a loss in
market value.
- Stock you own may be subject to tender
offers, mergers, reorganizations, or third-party actions
that can affect the value of your ownership interest. Pay
careful attention to public announcements and information
sent to you about such transactions. They involve complex
investment decisions. Be sure you fully understand the
terms of any offer to exchange or sell your shares before
you act. In some cases, such as partial or two-tier tender
offers, failure to act can have detrimental effects on your
investment. The greatest risk in buying shares of stock is
having the value of the stock fall to zero. On the other
hand, the risk of selling stock short can be substantial.
"Short selling" means selling stock that the seller does
not own, or any sale that is completed by the delivery of a
security borrowed by the seller. Short selling is a
legitimate trading strategy, but assumes that the seller
will be able to buy the stock at a more favorable price
than the price at which they sold short. If this is not the
case, then the seller will be liable for the increase in
price of the shorted stock, which could be substantial.
SPECIFIC RISKS OF STOCK OPTIONS TRADING
When you open a
stock option account, you should receive a booklet entitled
"Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options," which
is also available on the Chicago Board Options Exchange
website. This
booklet contains an in-depth discussion of the
characteristics and risks associated with stock options
trading. We strongly encourage you to carefully read and
understand this information.
- Assignment of exercise
to writers. As a writer of a stock option, you may be
assigned an exercise at any time from the date of sale
through approximately two days after the date of
expiration. The consequences of being assigned an exercise
depend upon whether the writer of a call is covered or
uncovered, as discussed below. Since an option writer may
not be informed of the assignment of exercise until up to
two days after expiration, special risks can come into
play. For example, an option writer who sells out their
underlying position upon expiration may find out the next
day that they have to surrender stock they do not now own.
- Risk of unlimited losses for uncovered writers of
call options. A "naked" or uncovered writer of a call
option is at substantial risk should the value of the
underlying stock move unfavorably against the position. For
a naked call writer, the risk of loss is theoretically
unlimited. The obligation of a naked writer that is not
secured by cash to meet applicable margin requirements
creates additional risks. A harsh adverse move in stock
prices can create steep margin call scenarios in which a
brokerage firm may liquidate other holdings in the writer's
account(s) to cover the option. Since pricing of options
tends to be magnified relative to the underlying stock, the
naked writer may be at significantly greater risk than a
short seller of the underlying stock.
- Deep out-of-
the-money options carry high risk of loss. Although
purchasing stock options at strike prices significantly
above or below the current market price can be very
inexpensive, you are at high risk of losing your money.
There are two versions of deep out-of-the-money options: A
deep out-of-the-money call is an option to purchase 100
shares of stock at a price far above the current market
price. A deep out-of-the-money put is an option to sell 100
shares of stock at a price far below the current market
price. Although these options seem inexpensive, the chances
of making a profit on such transactions are extremely low.
Therefore, novice traders should avoid buying deep out-of-
the-money options.
- Out-of-the-money options near
their expiration date carry a high risk of loss. The closer
you buy an out-of-the-money option to its expiration date,
the less likely it is to end up profitable. Although these
options are cheap, in order to win in such situations, you
will need precise timing and the occurrence of a major
event that significantly moves the underlying future in
your favor. Therefore, the risk associated with these
options is high and you are likely to lose your entire
investment in these positions. Each advisory service we
provide will offer a special discussion of risks. As you
move through the educational materials that teach you how
to use each service, be sure to carefully read the risks
section. It elaborates on risks specific to the types of
recommendations you might see in that service. Do not enter
any trade without understanding all risks associated with
that type of trading.
Conclusion:
Once again, we stress the importance of understanding all of
the risks of any form of trading or investing that you
choose to do. One should fully understand the worst-case
scenario prior to trading or investing real dollars. Past
performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
You take full responsibility for all trading actions, and
should make every effort to understand the risks involved.
Home
Member Login
About Us
Subscribe
Alerts
Updates
Portfolio
Daily Playbook
Options Activity
Trading Manual
Education
Educational Articles
Trading Manual
Member Center
Contact Us
Whitelist Us