BASPORTS.COM | OPTIONS

Protect your portfolio against market extremes, not day-to-day volatility.

A vertical put on a broadly based equities ETF may be the best bet for investors who don't want to miss what's left in the current market rally.

3. Biting the Apple, Sipping the Java

Selling puts on Apple and Starbucks could make good sense now.

4. Why the Smart Money Looks Dumb

Sophisticated investors' skepticism about the rally, combined with the need to hedge, keep pushing up stock prices.

5. Aiming at a Continuing Recovery

They might not have been thinking of gun stocks, but some analysts salute momentum, and investors should carry on and shrug off latest jobs numbers.

6. ANN Is Turning Heads Among the Options Crowd

Trader prepares for the former Ann Taylor to extend its gains into the summer.

7. A Chance for the SEC to Step Up

The debacle involving the TVIX exchange-traded note points to the need for the SEC to live up to its stated aim of protecting individual investors.

8. Renting Yourself Some Apple

Some options savvy can make the ultra-pricey stock more affordable.

9. Bull Move or Bear Trap In Banks

Long-dated volatility, or options that expire in a year or more, are often slowest to change since the future is harder to analyze than the present. So what does that mean for Bank of America and JPMorgan? It's complicated.

10. Monetizing Doubt With GE Puts

When fear inflates put prices, sell puts on blue-chip stocks that pay dividends. Dividends are an incredibly important, and too-often overlooked, ingredient of investment returns.

11. A Wall-of-Worry Strategy

A broad recommendation to simply buy calls may seem flippant, and it feels that way to say it. But mixed investor sentiment supports the idea.

12. The Winter's Tale: Risk Reversal

The stock market's upside movement has sparked skepticism among major pension and mutual-fund managers. The current moment of low volatility makes selling puts to buy calls—a bullish proposition—attractive.

13. Amid Stock-Market Optimism, Weigh a Call Play

Stocks are surging, but such broad bullishness signals danger to sophisticated investors. One solution is to replace winning stocks with bullish call options, providing profits with the chance for more gains.

14. How to Hit Profitable Singles

While investment home runs are thrilling, puts and calls can provide base hits that pare risks and raise returns. Some Chicago Board Options Exchange indexes can point the way.