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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc.

DELL 140.63

+1.7%

3:59 PM EST

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To: brian z who wrote (55447)	7/31/1998 6:52:00 AM
From: Geoff Nunn	Read Replies (2) of 176387

re: <<So Most of options do not expire worthless.>> Brian, I agree with you. Perhaps what PAL meant to say is that ~80% of options players lose money, which is a claim I have seen in places like Barrons. It is unclear what it really means though. (80% per month? 80% per yr? 80% of positions taken? etc) What can be said with some confidence is that most people who play the options market lose money. This follows from the zero-sum game nature of options. An option contract is a side bet on the direction and magnitude of change in the price of the underlying stock. If someone makes money on the bet, someone else necessarily loses. Costs musts be subtracted from both sides of the bet (brokerage commissions). Once these costs are considered, options become a negative sum game and aggregate losses exceed the aggregate gains. Some people dispute the idea that options are a zero sum game but they make the mistake of ignoring the writer's opportunity costs. Good luck in your options plays. If you insist on gambling, I think you should buy Dell call options! Geoff

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