Trading Options as a Professional: Techniques for Market Makers and Experienced Traders
$31.20
Trading Options as a Professional is an advanced instructional guide focused on the practical mechanics of professional options trading, market making, volatility analysis, and institutional risk management. James B. Bittman structures the book around what he defines as the “eight essentials” required for serious options traders, including option pricing behavior, synthetic relationships, arbitrage, volatility, delta-neutral trading, bid-ask pricing, and position risk management.
The book approaches options from the perspective of how professional market makers and experienced traders actually operate inside competitive options markets. Rather than emphasizing retail-style directional speculation, the material focuses on pricing efficiency, volatility modeling, execution logic, position structuring, and dynamic risk control. Detailed explanations are supported with mathematical reasoning, pricing models, spread construction examples, and professional trading workflows.
A central strength of the book is its comprehensive treatment of option pricing dynamics and the Greeks. Bittman explains how delta, gamma, theta, vega, and rho interact under changing market conditions and how these variables influence portfolio exposure, volatility trading, and market-making decisions. The text also explores synthetic positions, conversions, reverse conversions, box spreads, and volatility skew analysis from a practical trading perspective.
The later sections of the book transition into professional-level applications such as delta-neutral trading, bid-ask spread management, theoretical pricing adjustments, and portfolio risk balancing. Throughout the book, the emphasis remains on developing structured analytical thinking and institutional-grade understanding of options markets rather than relying on simplistic directional strategies. This makes the book particularly valuable for traders seeking a deeper quantitative and professional framework for options trading.
✅ What You’ll Learn:
- How professional options market makers structure and price trades
- The mechanics of implied volatility and volatility skew
- How to analyze and manage the Greeks dynamically
- Techniques for delta-neutral trading and volatility trading
- How synthetic option relationships influence pricing behavior
- Methods for pricing arbitrage strategies such as conversions and box spreads
- How bid-ask spreads are adjusted in live options markets
- Position risk management using portfolio Greeks
- How option pricing changes with time decay and volatility shifts
- Practical applications of professional options software and theoretical models
💡 Key Benefits:
- Provides institutional-level insight into professional options trading
- Develops a strong understanding of volatility-driven market behavior
- Explains advanced option mechanics using structured examples
- Bridges theoretical pricing concepts with real trading execution
- Enhances risk management skills for complex options portfolios
- Helps traders understand how market makers evaluate pricing and exposure
👤 Who This Book Is For:
- Intermediate to advanced options traders
- Traders transitioning toward professional or institutional methodologies
- Market makers and volatility-focused traders
- Quantitatively inclined traders seeking deeper options pricing knowledge
📚 Table of Contents:
- Option Market Fundamentals
- Operating the Op-Eval Pro Software
- The Basics of Option Price Behavior
- The Greeks
- Synthetic Relationships
- Arbitrage Strategies
- Volatility
- Delta-Neutral Trading: Theory and Reality
- Setting Bid-Ask Prices
- Managing Position Risk
Trading Options as a Professional By James Bittman
| Author(s) | |
|---|---|
| Product Type | Ebook |
| Format | |
| Skill Level | Intermediate to Advanced |
| Pages | 378 |
| Publication Year | 2008 |
| Delivery | Instant Download |
6 reviews for Trading Options as a Professional: Techniques for Market Makers and Experienced Traders
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Josephine Pollard (verified owner) –
This book is for those who have basic knowledge of options and want to learn strategy to earn profit. Highly recommended.
Catalina Decker (verified owner) –
Received item on time and as described. You can find most of the information in this book online but that’s time consuming. Great book.
Taylor Xiong (verified owner) –
The book arrived in good time and provides considerable useful information for one who already understands the basics of options.
Hayes Stone (verified owner) –
I did not read the whole book but it is good for reference
Giana Medina (verified owner) –
There are so many “I have the secret to making millions in options” books around that it’s clear that there is no secret. Unless, of course, you realise that the secret is in the knowledge as to how these devices work. And Bittman gives us that knowledge (yet again). It’s a dry book, no razzamatazz, but Bittman is an educator, not a salesman. This is a worthwhile re-read for experienced traders but, I think, a must for all would-be traders, many of whom won’t come to it until they’ve lost a sizeable sum to the market.
Amayah Holt (verified owner) –
Until this book, the de facto standard for options traders was Option Volatility & Pricing: Advanced Trading Strategies and Techniques by Sheldon Natenberg. Natenberg published a great book in 1994, but it feels like it was nearly a century ago. “Back in the day” of open pit trading and when pricing disparities could be found for an edge. Those days are long gone by.
In this century – with an electronic and highly liquid market – the rules have changed and we need a new book.
Bittman (who works at the CBOE) has done a fantastic job authoring what should be considered the “New Standard” for options traders. This book is intended for today’s professionals, but more experienced personal investors who want to learn more about options trading, should find the book very helpful.
It also comes with a useful PC program for options analysis. It’s a handy tool to model options pricing behavior.
This book is a “must own” for all professional and serious options traders.