Overview Of Currency Options Trading For FX Beginners

One of the types of trading you are going to hear about when you first enter Forex is currency options trading. This type of trading is very popular with some traders and there are more than 3 billion options traded each year. However, it is also one of the types of trading that has the highest risk involved. Very few brokers will let traders sell these contracts without a lot of capital for their protection because the risk is so high. So, if you are going to get into options trading, it is important that you learn everything about it before you begin.
Forex trading involves trading currency pairs. It is fast, volatile, and is in constant motion. Options trading is adding an extra layer of activity to this already fast moving market. "Standard" or "vanilla" trading options are the most commonly used. It is fairly straight forward. You have the face amount, an option put/call, an expiration, a strike (this is what the trade will be by the expiration) and an exercise.
The ability to sell currency at a certain exchange rate on future date (expiration date) is called a "put/call". You, the trader, have a right to sell, but not an obligation. The option expires worthless if the put rate runs out of money. Expiration dates are set at one week, a month, 3 months, six months, and a year.
If the exercise is "European" it means that the option can only be exercised on the last day of its life. When it is exercised, the currency option triggers a SPOT or cash trade done at the strike price and for settlement on the SPOT value date.
If the exercise is "American" the option can be exercised at any time before the expiration date. It might be valued using a variety of numerical approximation techniques or it can be priced using binomial option-pricing models.
Options trading that have non-standard features are called "Exotic Options." These are very popular with the most popular being the "barrier" or "knock-out" option. These options have a barrier exchange rate (out-strike) and if the option is breached at any time during it's life (before the expiration date), it is killed.
Other commonly used Exotic optionS are the Double Barrier option, Binary option, Double Barrier Range Binary option, Quantos Option (hedgers use this option a lot), the Average Rate option, and Compound options (these are options on options). There are many, many more types of Exotic Options that you will learn about as you delve deeper into options trading.
When you begin to look into different currency options trading you will find that the advantages discussed include that they provide greater leveraging power (cost efficient), that they cost less so the risk is lower (this is the relativity argument), and they can be used to hedge against adverse movements in exchange rates.
When you are deciding on whether or not to participate in currency options trading it is important to have a clear understanding of the level of risk involved, the cost for trading in this forum, and have realistic expectations of what the gains will be. Taking classes and talking to successful traders will help you to decide if this is an arena you want to enter.