McMillan on Options
$26.40
McMillan on Options is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative and enduring texts on options trading. Written by Lawrence G. McMillan, a veteran options strategist, this book is not designed as a quick-start manual or a collection of shortcuts. Instead, it provides a comprehensive, professional-level understanding of how options truly work, how they should be evaluated, and how they can be used systematically within a disciplined trading and risk-management framework.
The book begins by establishing a solid foundation in options mechanics—calls, puts, strike prices, expiration cycles, and payoff structures—before progressing into the pricing dynamics that govern options behavior. McMillan places particular emphasis on volatility, explaining its central role in option valuation and why misinterpreting volatility is one of the most common causes of failure among options traders. Concepts such as implied volatility, volatility skew, and relative valuation are treated with depth and precision.
As the book advances, it explores a broad range of options strategies, including spreads, straddles, strangles, covered writing, and advanced multi-leg constructions. These strategies are not presented as isolated tactics, but as tools that must be matched to market conditions, directional bias, and volatility regimes. McMillan repeatedly reinforces the idea that strategy selection without contextual analysis is inherently flawed.
Risk control is a defining theme throughout the book. Position sizing, adjustment techniques, and defensive responses to adverse market movement are integrated into every strategic discussion. Rather than promising outsized returns, McMillan on Options teaches readers how to survive, adapt, and compound knowledge over time—making it a cornerstone reference for serious options traders and portfolio managers alike.
✅ What You’ll Learn:
- How options are priced and why volatility is the dominant driver of option value
- How to evaluate implied volatility relative to historical and structural context
- Professional use of spreads, straddles, strangles, and combination strategies
- How to manage and adjust option positions as market conditions evolve
- How to think about risk, probability, and expectancy in options trading
💡 Key Benefits:
- Offers one of the most complete and structured treatments of options trading available
- Builds deep conceptual understanding rather than surface-level tactics
- Emphasizes disciplined risk control and strategic adaptability
- Serves as a long-term reference book for serious market participants
👤 Who This Book Is For:
- Traders with prior market experience who want to master options professionally
- Options traders seeking deeper insight into volatility and strategy selection
- Portfolio managers using options for hedging or return enhancement
- Not suitable for beginners looking for simplified or shortcut-based options guides
📚 Table of Contents:
- Option History, Definitions, and Terms
- An Overview of Option Strategies
- The Versatile Option
- The Predictive Power of Options
- Trading Systems and Strategies
- Trading Volatility and Other Theoretical Approaches
- Other Important Considerations
McMillan on Options By Lawrence G. McMillan
| Author(s) | |
|---|---|
| Product Type | Ebook |
| Format | |
| Skill Level | Intermediate to Advanced |
| Pages | 668 |
| Publication Year | 2004 |
| Delivery | Instant Download |
23 reviews for McMillan on Options
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Cataleya Pruitt (verified owner) –
This book is a comprehensive guide to a lot of trading strategies, not at all limited to the use of options.
I liked the fact that the author used a lot of real life examples, that helped to understand the strategies and sometimes the mistakes you can make
Flora Hayden (verified owner) –
Written well to help new or relatively inexperienced in the options field. I learned much and have used the knowledge gained immediately.
Jakari Austin (verified owner) –
Very well written and illustrated book on options and how they work. A must have for any serious option trader.
Kolton Delgado (verified owner) –
Excellent book.
Simone Castillo (verified owner) –
Lawrence G. McMillan is the author of the famous title “Options as a Strategic Investment”. What’s the difference between the two books? This one is entirely different: it teaches option trading in actual examples, and is not intended to be a complete definition of strategies. This is a book in which the application of options to actual trading situations is discussed. It assumes that you are already familiar with the stock market to some extent and have traded stocks but not options. There are plenty of real trading examples, many of them taken from the author’s trading experience. In addition, there are a number of stories–some humorous, some more on the tragic side, that illustrate the rewards and pitfalls of trading, especially trading options. If you like the analysis of historic events in the markets, I can also recommend “The Only Three Questions That Count” by Ken Fisher, in addition to this book. If you like the history even more, I can recommend the trilogy: Financier, Titan and The Stoic by Theodore Dreiser. Seriously!
Pros:
– explains in a very interesting way the history of listed options and other historic events;
– humorous, vivid, entertaining and amusing;
– unique advises from the author’s experience;
– uncovers the predictive power of options in a very detailed manner with lots of case studies
– analyses the seasonality of volatility, The January effect, Late-October Buy Point, and other patterns and dependences;
– excellent chapters about the trading philosophy;
Cons:
– Chapters about selecting the right broker, getting the quotes and understanding the order flow are outdated;
– An important technique of selling puts as a way of buying the underlying security is not covered in this book, but covered in the others first book “Options as a Strategic Investment”. Warren Buffett obtains most of his stock holdings through selling puts. He got most of his Coca-Cola Holdings this way, and, recently, Burlington Northern Santa Fe. If you are interested in this technique, read chapter 19 of “Options as a Strategic Investment”;
– Doesn’t have a single references to other books.
There are many books about options, but this is a must read.
Alessandra Christian (verified owner) –
Excellent book on options. Talks about trading systems in which to use options and what strategies to use.
Madeline Best (verified owner) –
Excellent book but you must have a good background on options to benefit. The best book ever on options. AAA+++
Kai Conway (verified owner) –
that’s a great book.
Aarav Miles (verified owner) –
Great Book on Options!
Max Evans (verified owner) –
Very detalled and comprehensive review of options and futures, with advanced trading techniques. McMillan shares his deep expertise in many advanced techniques.
Jagger Quinn (verified owner) –
Thorough, but readilble. Good combination of theory and examples. Good education on market makers and how and why markets behave as they do.
Ryann Morrow (verified owner) –
This is not a book of option strategies and option trading. However, it makes for interesting and educative reading. If you want to learn the trade strategies in depth, I recommend the companion book by Lawrence McMillan “Options as a Strategic Investment”.
Ledger Levy (verified owner) –
included some very good options strategies.
Gatlin Gentry (verified owner) –
would have given five without typos that are quite many
Harlem Vaughan (verified owner) –
If you enjoyed “Options as a Strategic Investment”, you will like “McMillan on Options”.
Where “Options as a Strategic Investment” is top notch in its thoroughness, it would never be considered a page turner. “McMillan on Options” breathes and allows the reader to gain Larry’s insights through personal stories and tips.
At 600+ pages, the book is loaded with advice on a range of options topics too numerous to name here. Special attention is given to the put/call ratio as a contrarian indicator of market sentiment.
The only knock I have against the book and McMillan in general is that the he tries to cover everything. I feel the book would be more effective if it had less topics with more depth.
Alivia Jones (verified owner) –
I own a fair number of books on options. Some are better than others, most have a few nuggets if you dig for them. McMillan’s Options as a Strategic Investment was one of my earliest purchases and I appreciated it for its academic quality. This tome is somewhat more challenging a read, is directed to individuals who want a bit more thorough analysis of option strategies and is probably more useful to very active traders who are interested in sophisticated strategies. I found it interesting and educational, but if this is your first options book, it is probably the wrong place to start. The most important single thing I learned about option trading has been that owning shares of stock is essentially the economic equivalent of simultaneously owning a long call (that is, owning a call) and being short a put (that is, having sold a put). Anyone who is about to start trading options is told that being a short put is a dangerous situation, yet it is basically inherent in owning stock due to the equivalency just described. Understand that and options become more attractive and understandable as away to invest while limiting risk and enjoying upside potential and, more importantly, why it is worth reading books such as this and those by Guy Cohen to educate yourself.
Kyree Velazquez (verified owner) –
I highly recommend it for the new student and intermediate trader who needs a comprehensive reference book to obtain a grounding in options. The advanced trader will find it helpful to evaluate additional strategies to add to their options trading.
Amelie Keith (verified owner) –
Probably the best book on options that I have read. Very good book. It’s a bit of a learning curve but full of information.
Heaven Avery (verified owner) –
This book I would say is a must read for serious aspirants to options trading. Having said that, it falls way short of the masterpiece from Sheldon Natemberg. Moreover, the book is outdated in its examples, more stories than text book material.
Nancy Burgess (verified owner) –
Think of this as the Bible for the options trader. It’s the word from the God of Options trading.
I think at least half of the book is common sense, but then again, I learned options trading when I was in my mid-late teens.
Well written, put together, organized.
Sabrina Wells (verified owner) –
This is an extensive manual about the ins and outs of option trading. While much of the examples are dated over twenty years ago, the principles still hold true. The explanation of different strategies and the use of the Greeks for evaluation of each strategy is more thorough than I’ve seen anywhere else.
The book is a bit long. Many examples go on for several pages. Some concepts are a bit much to determine a practical use.
Keep in mind that this is not a book for beginners. This is for readers with a decent background in trading and some experience in options. It also is not a book to read once and set aside. I found myself flipping back a number of times to review material that I didn’t fully grasp the first time through. I also noticed a lot of subtlety of important factors when I read through sections again. Often I would try an approach presented and have some success, but then realize that there was more to the strategy that I missed. With additional insight I could be more consistent in successful trading.
Two particularly helpful sections were the explanations of the use of back spreads, and gamma neutral calendar spreads. I had not encountered these approaches before and they are both very powerful in low volatility environments.
I see this book as one I will likely refer back to periodically to keep learning.
William Patel (verified owner) –
Filled with great examples, this book brought me from practically no knowledge of options up to a point where I am now comfortable using options as another investment strategy. A great read, McMillan builds your knowledge steadily. Even if you decide you may not actually trade options, knowing the signals from the market by following options is another valuable tool for the investor.
Eliana Reynolds (verified owner) –
McMillan does an excellent job of explaining options and its characteristics. He delves into the many different applications as well as the different strategies. More importantly, he gives a thorough analysis of the strategies as well as the concepts. This is a book for a trader or investor who wants to gain a deep and thorough understanding of options and what it can do for the bottom line.
His book is one of the best and most comprehensive of stock and futures options. You won’t regret buying it.