Unc, be kind to tekboy. I believe that options can be used judiciously. For instance, if you sell put leaps, you are really avoiding all short term volatility, and if worst comes to worst, and you really miscalculated and the puts are underwater, you can reposition by buying them back and selling new puts further out, always coming out ahead. So you can wait them out.
Leaps calls would seem okay too, again, if you really understand the fundamentals of a stock.
Short term trouble and "gambling" propensities come mostly, I think, from short term trading, such as buying calls or writing calls a month or two out on a very volatile stock. That can kick you in the butt. Or as t2 on MSFT thread notes, an addiction, from which he made his fortune but could have lost it too: way out of the money calls on MSFT, very short term, after studying the trading patterns of the stock. That could be called gambling.
Buying DITM calls, which are often quite pricey, especially deep in the money LEAPS, usually move point by point with stock. It's something one can do when the stock is temporarily depressed (as we once thought DELL was--but it seems to need long term prozac at this point), thus riding the way back up, but spending about half the $ to control much more shares.
I think all investing is a mirror of self--not trying to wax too philosophical here--but one's investing style is reflected in all the trades one does
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