These 6 Signals Tell You When to Enter or Exit Your Options Trades

You don't need a degree in finance to trade options. Anyone can do this.

All that you really need to know is when to jump in and when to get out.

And it's shockingly easy to do.

The key to making money trading options is timing. Otherwise, you might as well be gambling with your money.

Last week, I showed you how to identify the direction a stock is turning and when it will turn.

Today, I'm going to show you when to enter and exit your options trades.

As you'll see, there are just six signals you'll need.

The Six "Signals" That Can Make You Rich

Before I begin, I want to make things a little easier for you. So below is a refresher.

There are two ways to calculate stochastics:

  1. The following formula: %K = 100[C-L of N / H of N - L of N]

%K: (stock's current closing price - its lowest low) ÷ (stock's highest high - its lowest low) x 100

N: the stock

C: the most recent closing price of the stock's previous trading sessions. (Remember, a trading session can be a week, a day, or an hour, but the default number of trading sessions is 14.)

L of N: the lowest price of the stock's previous trading sessions

H of N: the highest price of the stock's previous trading sessions

  1. %D: a three-session moving average of %K

Now let's jump into the signals.

  1. The %K crossing above the 20 line: This is a trading signal from the bottomof a stock's trading range.
  2. The %D crossing above the 20 line:This is a trading signal from the bottom of a stock's trading range.

Both of these signals indicate that a stock is potentially moving upward in price due to the momentum of the stock coming out of an oversold zone.

A stock is deemed oversold when the stochastic lines are found in the 20 to 0 range.

  1. The %K crossing below the 80 line:This is a trading signal from the top of a stock's trading range. It tells you when a stock price is moving down.
  2. The %D crossing below the 80 line:This is a trading signal from the top of a stock's trading range. It tells you when a stock price is moving down.

Both of these signals indicate that a stock is potentially moving downward in price due to the momentum of the stock coming out of an overbought zone.

A stock is deemed overbought when the stochastic lines are found in the 80 to 100 range.

  1. %K crossing the %D line: This is the more aggressive of the two signals and crosses either the 20 or 80 lines. This typically happens before the before the %D line does so.
  2. %K crossing below the %D line:This is the more conservative of the two signals, as this means that both lines have to exit from either of the extreme zones. This results in a stock that potentially has both lines working for it.

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Now keep in mind that if you use the more conservative option of the two signals, you may lose some of the price move while waiting for both to confirm.

Note that the most aggressive of the signals is trading the %K line crossing above or below the %D line. This will happen prior to the %K or %D crossing above or below the 20 or 80 lines.

Don't Make the Same Mistake as Other Traders: Avoid a Double Loss

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As I mentioned above and in last week's lesson, stocks can stay overbought or, in this case, oversold for longer than you'd expect.

It is also possible for this to happen more than once if you are trading this signal crossover. Fluctuating in an oversold zone can cause you to get whipsawed in and out of trades.

This just means that it's possible for you to be subjected to a double loss if trying to prematurely recoup a loss through a subsequent short sale of the same security.

So be mindful of this if you would like to use this signal as your trigger for initiating and closing trades.

The %K line crossing above or below the %D line can happen anywhere in the 0 to 100 range. To me, this signal is best used when it happens in an oversold or overbought zone.

This is because a stock has a better chance of moving out of either of these than when the signal occurs in middle of the trading range (where there may be more of an equal balance of bullish and bearish price movements).

There may or may not be software programs or other tools out there that let you scan for these signals. But, as you can see below in the blue square, I have my own proprietary tools that give me the ability to scan for these signals.

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I also have the ability to scan for these signals on an individual stock, or I can scan on an endless number of stock lists that I create myself.

The goal for you is to determine which of the setups you would like to trade, depending on how aggressive or conservative you wish to be on your entry and exits.

I also want to point out that the developer of stochastics, George Lane, once said, "Stochastics should be used with cycles." However, I believe that stochastics is more of an accompanying indicator rather than one that should be used exclusively.

Ignoring This Could Mean You Miss a MAJOR Change in Direction

There's something else that I can't emphasize enough: the importance of eyeing positive and negative divergence.

Divergence is when the price of an underlying and the indicator used on it go in opposite directions.

Positive divergence is when the stock creates a new low or trades at a sustained price, but the indicator (or oscillator) doesn't. Instead, it creates a higher low, or starts to move upward, at the same time.

Negative divergence is when the stock creates a new high or trades at a sustained price, but the indicator (or oscillator) doesn't. Instead, it creates a new low, or starts to move downward, at the same time.

As I said when discussing Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), keep an eye out when the indicator you choose to use positively or negatively diverges from price. This could signal a turning point or reversal (a pivot high or pivot low reversal) for that stock.

Let's take a look at stochastics and the chart below for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq ADR: TEVA). These images show the top range in stochastics getting lower while the stock price holds steady at about the same price.

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This may be a warning that the stock price is declining.

One last thing before I go...

Stochastics will signal when a stock is considered oversold and overbought.

Just remember that stocks can stay oversold and overbought.

So to counter this, I advise using stochastics in addition to other strategies.

But get familiar with stochastics by choosing the signal you want to use and looking at stock charts over a historical period of time. In this way, you can see how well the signal worked for a group of stocks.

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This Indicator Is Key to Timing Trades: Timing is one of the most critical yet challenging aspects of options trading. This indicator eliminates the guesswork by showing you when a stock's about to pivot, helping you time your trades with consistent accuracy - and profit handsomely...

About the Author

Tom Gentile, options trading specialist for Money Map Press, is widely known as America's No. 1 Pattern Trader thanks to his nearly 30 years of experience spotting lucrative patterns in options trading. Tom has taught over 300,000 traders his option trading secrets in a variety of settings, including seminars and workshops. He's also a bestselling author of eight books and training courses.

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