Recent turmoil in the stock market is a timely reminder that diversification never goes out of style. Fortunately, optionsXpress gives investors plenty of ways to spread around their money, including a full range of futures and futures options choices.

If you’re looking for an alternative or complement to your current equity portfolio, you may want to learn more about potential opportunities in futures. This month’s slate of FREE webinar presentations from optionsXpress can help (all times EST):

Monthly Futures Outlook – February 10 at 1:00 PM

Intro to Futures – February 10 at 7:00 PM and February 18 at 7:00 PM

Intro to Futures Options – February 10 at 8:00 PM and February 18 at 10:00 PM

Technical Market Studies – February 11 at 12:00 PM

Jobs may come and go throughout the years, but retirement is always on the horizon. That’s why it’s so important to remain focused and stay in control of your retirement savings, regardless of how many stops, starts and detours you may encounter along the way.

A Rollover IRA at optionsXpress can be a great way to keep a better handle on your retirement savings by consolidating everything in one convenient place. Roll your existing 401K into an optionsXpress IRA and take advantage of:

- No account minimums
- No IRA maintenance fees
- The ability to trade stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds and options in your IRA
- Free access to all of our tools and resources

Retirement is coming – start rolling today.

Just five weeks into 2009, the optionsXpress Education Team has already traveled from coast to coast and a dozen stops in between to deliver free investing education to the good folks of Miami, Memphis, San Diego and more.

Our workshops and site nites have been packed with people looking to take more control of their money in this challenging market environment by learning something new and interacting with a community of like-minded investors.

In that spirit, we’re continuing our cross-country tour with a special Hearts of Texas event on February 14 – before you head out for an evening of romance, join us for a full day of FREE investing education in Dallas or San Antonio and find out how to rekindle your love for this unlovable market.

Two vibrant cities, two great workshops, one big Valentine’s Day in the Lone Star State – we hope to see you there!

Want to learn more about the world of options trading? Join optionsXpress for a great morning of education and insight at the Chicago Board Options Exchange on Wednesday, February 25.

Enjoy a demonstration of the power and convenience of the optionsXpress site, followed by an up-close and personal tour of the bustling CBOE trading floor.

Space is limited for this special FREE event – sign up today!

The CBOE logo is a Registered Trademark of the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The use of trademarks or service marks of another is not a representation that the other is affiliated with, sponsors, is sponsored by, endorses, or is endorsed by optionsXpress.

Tip of the day for equity-focused investors – our Most Actives page now includes new sorting categories, allowing you to exclude ETFs and/or exclude indices from the display to help narrow your search.

If it seems like options traders sometimes have their own language, it’s because they do – Greek.

A big key to understanding options is learning how they’re priced, and that means knowing how the values represented by delta, theta, rho and the rest of the Option Greeks affect those prices.

Fortunately, optionsXpress has a pair of great FREE webinar presentations on the schedule this week to help shed some light on these ancient characters. So grab your favorite leafy headdress – or not – and make plans to join us:

February 25: Greek Neutral Trading

February 26: Understanding Option Greeks and Price Behavior

The optionsXpress commitment to investor education is reinforced with our brand new Education Center, a comprehensive site-within-a-site organized by areas of interest and experience levels (where applicable) within the following categories:

Stocks (two levels)

Options (four levels)

Futures (six levels)

Bonds

ETFs / Mutual Funds

From basic explanations of market concepts to detailed descriptions of complex trading strategies, the Education Center’s straightforward text and streamlined navigation cater to both those interested in a general overview of the markets as well as those looking for a quick primer on a particular topic.

Log in or open an account today to check out the new Education Center and begin broadening your investing knowledge.