How to Trade Stock With Intraday Volatility

Open an investment account. In order to trade stocks, the trader must first have an investment account. To participate in day-trading activities, the trader must have at least $25,000 in his account.
Track the VIX. The VIX is a measure of volatility. The higher the number, the more volatility a trader can expect on a given trading day. Moderate volatility is often defined as a VIX in the high 20s to high 30s. As the number falls, it becomes more difficult to profit on intraday variances because markets tend to be more flat.
Find a list of high beta stocks. A high beta stock is a stock that moves up or down at a higher rate than the overall market. If a stock has a beta of 1, when the S&P 500 goes up 1 percent, the stock will as well. A trader looking to profit on volatility often trades stocks with a beta higher than 1. The higher the beta, the better.
Research those stocks on the high-beta stock list. A combination of technical and fundamental analysis will reveal those stocks that have the potential for a big, short term move.
Place a combination of long and short trades. Volatility traders often use a combination of short-selling and traditional long trading to both protect their assets and attempt to profit when the price of a stock goes up and down.

How to Buy Stock Options (5 Steps)

Understand the different type of options that are available. The two main types of options are puts and calls. Puts give the buyer an option to sell the underlying stock at a certain price during a given period. Calls allow the buyer of the option the ability to buy the underlying stock at a certain price in a given period.
Track and research the performance of the underlying stock. If, after the research, you expect the stock to rise in price, you should consider purchasing a call stock option. However if you expect the stock price to fall, the put stock option is the correct purchase. There are many permutations of these basic options principles, but these are the trading options for beginners. In the option business, they call this directional trading.
When you see, call or put a price of $2.00, the cost of this option is not $2.00 but $200.00. This is because stock options sell in lots of 100 share options. This is a common mistake for beginning options investors.
Decide which stock option you want to purchase and if you want a put or call option on the underlying stock. Again, a put is option to sell and a call is option to buy the underlying stock. You will need to contact a broker or visit an online option-trading site to place the order. See Resources below for information.
Buy the stock options for the given market price. Be sure to check the strike date of the option. The strike date is when the option expires. If you do not exercise by this date, it expires and you lose your investment. It is usually a good idea buy to stock options with the latest strike date. However, sometimes the stock option will be cheaper the closer it is to the strike date. Despite being cheaper, these short strike dates carry more risk.

How to Chart Volatility for Stock Options

Chart volatility for stock options using the Volatility Charts software available online with TradeKing. This stock options website features stock option analysis software in addition to broker access to stock option contracts. The charting features are free upon sign-up. The Volatility Charts let you graphically display discrepancies between a stock's historical volatility and implied volatility, which are the two key measures of volatility when analyzing stock options. Historical volatility is an analysis of a stock's prior price fluctuations. Implied volatility shows how option prices reflect what market participants expect of the stock's future volatility. These Volatility Charts are easy to access after entering the ticker symbol for the stock.
Create a 'SpreadHacker' chart using the ThinkOrSwim software platform. This software is free after registration and includes many analytical features for researching stock options. The SpreadHacker tool calculates implied volatility, and optionally combines this information with other stock option characteristics, such as strategy probability and real-time price analysis. You can then use this information to find a stock option trading position that suits your investment goals. Hundreds of different stock options trade on most stocks. SpreadHacker lets you categorize the options based on their implied volatility so you can study the possibilities more quickly.
Download the free Stock Volatility Calculator software for Excel. This spreadsheet application includes pre-written formulas to calculate a stock's historical and realized volatility, as well as statistical deviations of the stock's price movements. Unlike more comprehensive software, this program does not incorporate this information into a dedicated interface for stock option analysis. Thus, this program is best suited for veteran traders with a strong knowledge of option behavior. Experts can make informed decisions based solely on these raw calculations and will know how to use this program's data with other software to find good stock option strategies.

How to Cash Out Your ESOP Stock

Look at your most recent ESOP Individual Benefit Statement and review your current share holding. Consult with your most recent company financial statement to find the share value. Some companies provide a separate statement just for the ESOP, where the fair value of the stock shares is determined by an independent firm.
Once you know what you expect to receive from selling your shares, consult your Summary Plan Description (SPD) and, if available, employee ESOP handbook. These documents will discuss who you need to contact to sell your ESOP shares. If this is not available, contact your company's human resources representative.
With your statement and expected value in hand, call your ESOP representative. This person, who may be in your human resource department or an outside management company, will initiate your sale transaction. Verify that your holding and share value match, or exceed, your most recent statement with the representative.
Your representative will take care of the administrative needs of the sale. You will likely have to sign forms accepting the terms of the sale. Once the transaction is complete, you will receive a check for the value of your sold shares.