If you have an extra $300 to $1000, you might be wise to open a trading account with a Stock Broker and invest in some LEAPS Put Option contracts that expire in January 2000. When the stock Market crashes, the value of those contracts will increase MANY FOLD!!! A thousand dollars could easily be worth $30,000 OR MORE after the Market crashes and hits bottom! Time is getting crittical now. If you procrastinate, you will miss out on the BIGGEST MONEY MAKER in your life time! Call a Stock Broker tomorrow and open an account tomorrow! Have him explain LEAPS Put Options to you! Or do an Internet Search with LEAPS Put Options and you will learn from the experts! After the Market crashes, then cash out and convert to GOLD or SILVER!

-- Freddie the Freeloader (freddie@aol.com), March 18, 1999

Answers

When the market crashes you ain't getting Jack SH*IT! Whole different ball game Freddie.

-- NotLeaping (NotLeaping@Puts.com), March 18, 1999.

Sorry, Freddie. I've got the wrong (or maybe right) mindset to play games on the market. I made mine by working. Good thought. Only one problem. If you exercise your puts, who's going to cover the contracts? I hope you don't think your broker will. A put option worth 1 million dollars is actually woth -0- if there is no one to purchase the contracts you bought to cover your short.

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.com), March 18, 1999.

Not Leaping,

Thats a fact Jack,,,I have one option position open that I will close before April fools day,,,I will be closeing all brokerage and bank accounts,,,I may be jumping the gun but the markets are to much risk at this late date. Every day I wake up and check the overseas markets with a lump in my throut in the fear that the free fall has begun and I'm stuck,,,every trade has just two things,,a buyer and a seller,,,thats it,,,no buyers,,,can't get out.

-- CT (ct@no.yr), March 18, 1999.

Yes, you're right on that one. However there are easy ways to prevent that. If the Dow drops down to like 2000 from 10.000, the likelyhood exists that many investors will be wiped out and will be in default and then you will not get paid.

However, what you can do is to cash out when the Dow hits like 6000. Then keep most of the cash in your account and re-invest maybe 10% or 20 % in more LEAPS Put Options and ride it down some more to about Dow 4000. Then cash out again and then re-invest again about 10% to 20% and ride it down to 3000, then do the same again and ride it down to 2000 or what ever it will drop to. This way you are guaranteed to make the big bucks while protecting your winnings by cashing out several times when the market goes on it's way down!

Tis is an absolutly sure way to beat the Stockmarket and I'm doing it! I'm already in position with many LEAPS Put Options!

I see a great way for all of you to make some good money and I'm just passing on the information. I hope you'll check into it and do not procrastinate on making money in the biggest stock market crash!

-- Freddie the Freeloader (freddie@aol.com), March 18, 1999.

NO NO NO NO!!!!Exercise Options? No way! You NEVER execise Options! That is for the big boys who have a lot of money to buy the stock on an Option!

I have bought and sold stock options for many years and I have NEVER EVER exercised an Option! When you are ready to get rid of your option after it is in profit, simply order your broker to sell it to sombody else, who in turn hopes to sell it to someone else again for a higher price!

With all these negative posts regarding my advise, I can see that most of you will pass up the biggest opportunity to make money in the stock market.

And then when it is all over, most of you will say, "Well, I had a chance to make a huge amount of money, but I passed it up!" "I can't believe I was so dumb!"

-- Freddie the Freeloader (freddie@aol.com), March 18, 1999.

When you have like 10 Option contracts of the same option, and you are ready to sell them, DO NOT try to sell them "All TOGETHER", which means you want somebody to buy all of them from you at the same time. Instruct your Broker to sell them one at a time, so more investors are able to buy them. The Stockmarket is huge and if you think there is nobody who will buy your options, think again. There are millions of investors. When I place a sell order, it is sold within half a minute! Check it out, you'll be glad you did!

To the guy who is getting out before April 1st, convert your options into puts that expire in January 2000 and you'll make a bundle, unless you're convinced that the stockmarket will not crash???!!!??? Maybe you're a DGI?????

-- Freddie the Freeloader (freddie@aol.com), March 18, 1999.

Freddie,

I've been playing this game for years,,,Try getting out of your position after the market has had 5 or 6 days locked limit going with your position,,,get out at 8000,,,6000,,,4000,,,LOL,,I know lots of traders that won't touch this with a 10" pole,,,they are greedy but not dumb,,,now the Yen,,,or even better,,,the EURO,,,don't get greedy.

-- CT (ct@no.yr), March 18, 1999.

Freddie --

Have you been a bear for as long as I have?

If so, then you've probably never sold off your LEAP Puts at a profit, but watched them go toward 0 before they expire. I mean, why even pay a commission to get a couple hundred back on your 2 or 3 thousand? (They're still a longshot bet on a fast crash at anytime.) Our bets were just wrong, and the money's gone.

The past few years have surprised -- shocked -- us both, eh? We know the bubble-heads are wrong in their market philosophy and values, but they have made each other right by throwing in bad money after good!

Will this year be the one time we are right? Do we know something the market doesn't? y2k sure looks like the ultimate contrarian bet. But. But. But.

But why don't you post again and tell your readers how the PREMIUMS on LEAPS are running now (I haven't looked in 2 months), and therefore how much of a down move it would take to double and triple their money. Then compare it with shorting the market, and explain the difference in those risks.

I'm not a market pro, but at least I know the odds at the table before I buy in. Your readers should have the same benefit.

(Then of course there's the possibility of the Cashier's window being closed when you want to cash out your chips, and never re-opening.)

Actually, I should explain that: You're betting that, after you're proven right about the market crash, the bank runs will wait for you to cash out, and also the gold price rise (and coin availability) will also wait for you.

You could get caught in either of these, as well as a bear rally, with any of your positions. The extra risks of y2k could turn your good bet into a bad bet overall.

If you have all of your other preparations ready, and have the time and spare money to play with the multiple risks here, then go ahead and enjoy. I'm holding my LEAP puts (15 at SPX 95), but probably not adding anymore.

-- Staying put (Can't bear it@all.com), March 18, 1999.

Hey, Freddie:

IMO, when the US Stock Market crashes before Y2K, it'll happen so fast that only the very first sellers will get out safely. Everyone else will take huge losses and go bust.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), March 18, 1999.

Freddie go long Charmin. A 20 cent roll will go to $2 or more, if there are no more toilet paper deliveries! There will be market demand for TP.

-- Bill (y2khippo@yahoo.com), March 18, 1999.

Staying Put.

Are you aware there is no SPX Symbol? It is not a valid Symbol. Maybe you are not aware of "what" your holdings are?

-- Freddie the Freeloader (freddie@aol.com), March 18, 1999.

Freddie,

Your proposal could provide part a of good Y2k diversification plan. However, the markets might well be in turmoil around 01/00 expiration. I'd go further out, say April or July.

A 30 to 1 return is nearly impossible. The premiums are too high unless you go WAY out of the money, and there is a limit to how far out of the money you can go because contracts that far under the market aren't available. Maybe pyramiding on the way down would achieve such a return, but your timing and targets would have to be quite good, and the markets would have to stay open and liquid the whole way down. Lots of potential snags...

-- Nathan (nospam@all.com), March 18, 1999.

All those who answered my post have serious flaws in their answers. It is very obvious to me that all those who answered my post, Are not familiar with Options. Like LEAPS Options are only available every January, like Jan. 2000 and Jan. 2001. Not in April. Also letting your Options expire worthless is stupid. All the Options trading books tell you to cash out when the trade goes against you. To just keep on hoping is will turn around and just hanging on to the option until it is worthless is not what the experienced option trader does. There are many rules to abide with if you want to make money with options.

-- Freddie the Feeloader (freddie@aol.com), March 18, 1999.

Leaps schmeaps. First, the long term options on the DOW expire in December -- 12/99, 12/00, and 12/01 -- not in January. Second, the nearer contracts between 12/99 and 12/00 will become available as we approach 1/00. Not LEAPS, but who cares.

-- Nathan (nospam@all.com), March 19, 1999.

Freddie:

How is my commentary flawed? Don't you realize that when TSHTF a massive sell-off will occur? Any procrastinating investors will lose. You'd have to have perfect timing in selling your shares when the great panic starts. Do you feel lucky?

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), March 20, 1999.

Hey, it's not such a bad idea. It is not much more risky than anything else in the stock market right now. (It's all risky.)

To profit from this, the best situation would have to be a few small corrections and recoveries before the massive sell-off. This is not that unlikely. (I'm not going to do this, as I can't afford it, but would like to point out that this is not such a hare-brained idea.)

At each correction, you would cash in, then buy back in, as the tulip-bulb optimists bid the market up on another "buying opportunity." But be conservatiave and make sure you are completely out well before expiration. Too risky for me but for someone with money to gamble, the risk to reward is pretty good. All you can lose is 100%. "All"?? That's why you only do it with money you can afford to lose. What could be worse would be selling short when the timing is too soon, and in that case your losses are potentially unlimited.

Options are an underappreciated way to make lots of money if you really know what you're doing. I hope Freddie does (both).

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), March 20, 1999.

Details, details....

SPX is the base symbol for options on the S&P 500 index. See, for example: http://cboe.pcquote.com/cgi-bin/cboeopt.exe?TICKER=spx&ALL=1

If an index option expires in the money, you get the money. If you exercise an index option in the money, you get the money. They are different than equity options. That said, you may still prefer to sell them rather than exercise them.

While it seems that equity LEAPS expire in January, at least some index LEAPS, e.g. SPX, OEX, and DJX, expire in December. I do not know about other index LEAPS.

LEAPS are long term options and (usually) are less volatile than standard options. The premium per time period is much less than for standard options, so the importance of getting the timing "just right" is less critical. If you are confident of a major market change in a month or two or three, then standard options may be of interest. If you expect a major market change "sooner or later" or "sometime within the next year", LEAPS may be preferable.

If you have no idea what any of this is about, DO NOT call up a broker and throw money at options. If you are interested, learn about them, including pros and cons, before investing in them. You may learn enough to decide they are not for you.

In any case, use caution.

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), March 20, 1999.