Hong Kong is a renowned financial hub for investors, traders, and brokers to explore options trading. It is one of the most liquid markets in the world with an estimated average daily turnover of more than 4 trillion USD. Options are often used as part of strategies to manage risk or speculate on potential price movements. Hong Kong offers ample opportunities with various products, ranging from futures and ETFs to single stock options, for those looking to get involved in options trading.

What are options?

Options are contracts that allow buyers to buy or sell a specific underlying asset at a predetermined price at some point in the future. They can be used to hedge against downside risk or take advantage of upside opportunities by allowing investors to make leveraged bets on the direction of markets. The main options available with brokers such as Saxo Hong Kong are call and put options.

Call options: A call option gives its owner the opportunity, but not the constraint, to buy a specific underlying asset at a predetermined price before a specified expiration date. Investors will purchase call options when they expect an underlying asset’s price to rise over time. Call options can also generate income through writing covered calls or selling cash-secured puts.

Put options: Put options give the buyer the opportunity, but not the constraint, to sell a certain underlying asset at a predetermined price before a specified expiration date. Put buyers generally use this strategy when they believe an underlying asset’s price will decline. 

Expiring options: Options contracts have an expiration date determining when the contract can no longer be traded. In most cases, options expire on the third Saturday of each month in Hong Kong. When an option expires, it becomes worthless, and any remaining premium must be paid. Over and above this, any capital gains or losses that have not been realised are also due.

Options trading strategies

Options traders in Hong Kong typically employ various strategies to capitalise on market movements. Some popular strategies include buying and selling options, writing covered calls, writing cash-secured puts, straddles, and strangles spread betting, and arbitrage.

Buying and selling options: Buying and selling options are the most common strategy for options traders. This involves purchasing a call or put option with the expectation that the underlying asset’s price will align with its prediction before the option expires. If correct, they can then sell the option at a higher price. However, if wrong they may incur losses depending on how far off their prediction was from reality.

Writing covered calls: Writing covered calls involves selling call options on a security that the trader already owns. This strategy is used when traders are expecting the underlying asset’s price to remain flat or decline over time.

Writing cash-secured puts: Writing cash-secured puts involves writing put options on a security that best swing trading indicators trader does not own and then posting collateral to cover any potential losses. This strategy is popular among traders who believe that an underlying asset’s price will increase over time.

Straddles and strangles: Straddles and strangles involve buying both call and put options with different strike prices at the same time. Straddles are used when traders expect volatile market movements, while strangles are used when traders expect less volatile market movements.

Spread betting: Spread betting involves taking a position on the future direction of an underlying asset’s price without owning it. This strategy is popular among traders who want to take advantage of small movements in an underlying asset’s price over time.

Arbitrage: Arbitrage involves exploiting pricing discrepancies by buying and selling similar securities in different markets at the same time. This is done with the expectation that any potential earnings will be greater than the spread between those two prices after accounting for fees and other costs.

With that said

Options trading can be lucrative for investors looking to capitalise on price movements in stocks, commodities, currencies, and other assets. Hong Kong investors have access to a variety of trading strategies and can use them to take advantage of price movements in their favour. It is crucial, however, that traders understand the risks associated with options trading before they begin. A comprehensive understanding of the different strategies available will help traders make well-informed decisions and maximise their chances of success.