Options are the right to buy or sell a set number of shares at a predetermined price. The practice of online options trading cannot be approached without a certain degree of knowledge. There are two types of call and put options. Both types can be bought or sold, and your decision as to what to do with them is based on your goals as an investor. 1 How to Trade Options Learning how to trade options is by far the first thing to do when making the important decision to add this type of activity to your portfolio. Knowing how to trade options effectively can provide better results than attempting the process with little or no knowledge of how it works. There are courses you can take, both on campus and online, like the one offered at the Online Trading Academy. They offer a two-part program: Options Trader Part 1, which is a 2-day course for $1995, followed by their Options Trader Part 2 course, which is 3 days for $2995. During this course you will learn important aspects of options trading such as: different risk management tactics; some schools that offer on-campus and online programs for their options trading courses. You can expect to pay between $195 and $795 in tuition for each course taken, plus course materials. This professional development course at Northwestern University's School of Continuing Education provides you with a certificate of completion once you successfully complete the program. The courses to take are: Futures Trading Basics. Economics of trading. there is some benefit in the experience. It is far better to gain just a little than to lose everything on a hope or a feeling. References1 The Option Industry Council: http://www.optionseducation.org/basics/default.jsp2 Online Trading Academy: http://www.tradingacademy.com/courses/Options-Trader.aspx3 University School of Continuing Education Northwestern: http://www.scs.northwestern.edu/pdp/npdp/courses/?Program=TradingResources1 Online Stock Trading Guide: http://www.online-stock-trading-guide.com/beginner -stock-market-investing.html2 Options Trading Curriculum: http://www.tradingacademy.com/courses/Options-Trader-Curriculum.aspx3 Online Trading Academy: http://www.learn-stock- options-trading.com/4 Investopedia: http://www.investopedia.com/