XpressBlog The Latest News and Views from optionsXpress

On Friday, February 12, traders will wake up to a brand new way of looking at options symbols, as the longstanding system of cryptic letter combinations fades into history and the industry-wide crossover to new, more descriptive symbols goes live.

The big day won’t come as a complete surprise to optionsXpress traders, of course, who have been getting regular updates and seeing the new symbol format slowly roll out on pages and tools throughout our site over the past several months. But it’s still probably going to take a little getting used to for anyone bred on the old system.

So in honor of the “official” switch being thrown, we’re counting down to Friday with a daily dose of symbology tips and reminders. Today, it’s a look at some of our recently upgraded Account Pages, including:

Positions, with the new symbol format showing up throughout the My View (below), Daily P&L, Alerts, Cost Basis, Greeks, and Analyzer tabs.



The new symbology is also now featured on the Overview, Activity, and Analysis (below) pages.

Finally, all of the modules in myOX now display the new symbol format, including the Watch List (below).

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Traders looking to get their feet wet before taking the plunge have long been drawn to our Virtual Trade tool, which allows them to utilize real-feel optionsXpress trade screens and data resources to gain trading experience and test strategies without putting any real money on the line.

Now a vibrant new Virtual Trade is here, with dozens of additional features and functions designed to deliver an even more robust and realistic simulated trading experience, including:

New look and feel that more closely mirrors the optionsXpress style
New straightforward, easy-to-use options symbology
New trading strategies – butterflies, collars, condors, and more
New advanced orders for equities and futures
New futures functionality, including around-the-clock trading and futures spreads capability

It’s paper trading without the paper, and now it’s better than ever.

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Trying to get your bearings as the new options symbol format continues to show up on pages throughout the optionsXpress site? We’re here to help.

Here’s a tip for working with our recently upgraded options chains – the quote book and Greeks are now accessible by hovering over the new Detail link available on most of the chains, including:

Call/Put
Covered Calls
Calendar Call/Put Spreads
Diagonal Call/Put Spreads
Delta & Implied Volatility
Straddles
Strangles
Call/Put Spreads
Collars
Butterfly Call/Put Spread
Iron Condor Spreads
Combos

The Detail hover-over as seen on the Call/Put option chain.

Be sure to stay up to date on all of the latest symbology information here.

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From the capital to the coastline, optionsXpress is kicking off February with FREE education for the great state of California.

It all starts in Sacramento on Thursday, February 4, as Senior Vice President of Education Joe Cusick leads a three-hour guided tour through the tools and trade screens of the optionsXpress site.

Then the California Caravan continues as Joe heads south to beautiful Marina del Rey for his “Five-Step Method for Trading More Intelligently to Meet Your Financial Goals” full-day workshop on Saturday, February 6.

Come out to meet and mingle with Joe and a community of like-minded investors, and learn how to trade with more confidence using the power of optionsXpress. Click on the links below to reserve your spot for one of these great sessions!

Thursday, February 4 – Sacramento Site Nite

Saturday, February 6 – Marina del Rey Workshop

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Got plans for the weekend? optionsXpress Senior Vice President of Education Joe Cusick does.

He’s hitting the road with his “Five-Step Method for Trading More Intelligently to Meet Your Financial Goals” workshop – a FREE day of education designed to help you find and evaluate potential investment opportunities using the power of the optionsXpress platform.

Come out to meet and mingle with Joe and a community of like-minded investors, and learn how to trade with more confidence. Click on the link below to reserve your spot in Arizona.

Hope to see you there!

Saturday, January 23 – Phoenix Workshop

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Every trade page on the optionsXpress site now includes a quote of both the underlying and the option or option spread for the type of order being entered.

The following quote pages have received the symbol upgrade in our latest symbology release:

Option Quote Box

Historical Quotes

Time and Sales

Learn more about our symbology initiatives.

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…is brought to you by optionsXpress. In a town where almost everything has a price, we’re bucking the trend with a FREE Site Nite presentation on Thursday, January 21.

This three-hour guided tour of the optionsXpress site will show you how to use our powerful online trading tools to develop your trading plan, screen the markets for potential investing opportunities, and keep tabs on all of your strategies.

Finally – a guaranteed winner in Las Vegas. Reserve your spot today.

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Are you ready for the 2010 options symbology transition?

optionsXpress continues to make upgrades throughout our site in conjunction with this industry-wide movement toward a revamped options symbol format. You’ll notice more and more pages now updated to display and accept entry of the descriptive new symbols, including the following option trade pages:

Option Order Form

Trailing Stop and Contingent Order Form

Xspreads Spread Order Form

Spread and Spread Contingent and Trailing Stop Order Form

Order Preview

Order Status

Learn more about our symbology initiatives.

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Is our bread and butter your cup of tea?

If you’re still mulling over your investing resolutions for the New Year, be sure to find out more about adding options to your trading arsenal with our series of FREE introductory webinar presentations this month.

From terminology to trading basics, our instructors will use their decades of industry experience and easy-to-understand styles to help demystify the world of options. Take your pick of the following great topics in January:

Intro to Options Part I – Options Terminology

Intro to Options Part II – Calls

Intro to Options Part III – Puts

Options 101 – Back to Basics

Back to Basics for FX Options

Volatility Basics

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What’s in store for your investments as 2010 gets underway?

No one can say for sure, of course, but our seasoned market veterans are more than willing to pass along a few educated guesses on the weeks and months ahead in a particularly prescient pair of upcoming FREE webinar presentations. Whether you’re interested in the future of stocks or taking stock of futures, we’ve got you covered:

January 11 – The Santa Claus Rally and January Effect

Scott Downing from BigTrends looks at the historical patterns and technical indicators that may affect the stock market early in the New Year.

January 12 – Monthly Futures Outlook

Veteran market watcher Jim Wyckoff breaks down the major commodity markets with his trademark combination of technical insight and straightforward explanation.

Register for one or both of these great sessions today!

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