MarketXLS Blog

Rolling an option means closing an existing position and opening a similar one with a later expiration, a different strike, or both. When and why traders roll.

To use a mutual fund screener, set your hard limits first (category, max expense ratio), then filter on risk and multi-year returns, then compare the shortlist.

VIX options are cash-settled, European-style options on the Cboe Volatility Index, priced off VIX futures. How they differ from stock options and common strategies.

Active options trading strategy showing custom strategy building workflow in Excel with options chain and Greeks

Shorting (selling) a call collects premium up front and profits if the stock stays below the strike. How it works, maximum profit and loss, margin, and risk controls.

Option time value explained in depth — covering intrinsic vs extrinsic value, theta decay curves, factors affecting time premium, and practical strategies for profiting from time decay using MarketXLS.

The main benefits of ETFs: instant diversification, low costs, intraday trading, access to many asset classes, and tax efficiency, plus the limits to keep in mind.

A Z score is (value minus mean) divided by standard deviation. Calculate it in Excel with STANDARDIZE, AVERAGE, and STDEV.S, and use it to spot outliers in stock data.

Intrinsic value is how far an option is in the money: stock price minus strike for calls, strike minus stock price for puts, and never below zero.

An option premium calculator estimates what an option should cost from stock price, strike, time, volatility, and rates, and splits it into intrinsic and time value.

Historical options data is the past prices, bids, asks, volume, open interest, and implied volatility of option contracts. What it contains and how to pull it into Excel.

Implied volatility is the volatility priced into an option. Learn how IV, the Greeks, the VIX, and volatility skew help you choose option strategies and manage risk.

An ETF screener filters exchange-traded funds by criteria such as expense ratio, assets, liquidity, returns, volatility and holdings. What to screen on and how to use the MarketXLS ETF screener and Excel functions.

RSI (Relative Strength Index) is a 0 to 100 momentum indicator: above 70 is considered overbought, below 30 oversold. How it is calculated and how traders use it.

What the SPY options chain shows, how to read calls, puts, premiums and time decay on it, and how to pull it into Excel with MarketXLS.

Options on futures explained: how futures contracts work, how calls and puts on futures are priced and traded, margin, expiration, and the main risks.