Options for oil?

R

Ret45

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I am planning to buy some funds in a crude oil ETF in the next couple of days - something like US Oil. I am aware of contango issues however I am not sure what better options there are other than an ETF? Last year I invested in an oil tracker fund, which has done great, however there are penalties etc for early withdrawal and I would like something with less charges and which is more straightforward to sell.

So my question is has anyone gone a different route in tracking oil prices? the day to day volatility rules out spread betting for me. I am aware of buying call options on futures but has anyone actually done this and are they willing to walk a learner through the process.

thanks,
 
I usually use ishares oil ETFs, long and short.

If the day to day moves in spread betting bother you then, options and futures arent for you. Spread betting is almost identical to futures in terms of exposure, except more expensive and contract sizes are more flexible. Options are even more volatile still, unless you are have a reasonable knowledge of how to price an option (Black-Scholes) you should stay well away.
 
thanks dunker, can I ask which broker you use? i have a custody a/c with NIB and phoned them today to enquire about buying USO ETF, which one of the biggest oil ETFs around, and I would have to buy by phone, as its not listed on their ebanking platform. I don't think there is any stockbroker in Ireland that will trade futures on the NYMEX. I think there must be a market for a more can-do broker in Ireland - people have moved beyond wanting to buy a few shares in BOI!
 
Why not use the ETFS oil etf series (I previously said ishares by mistake)

I use igmarkets for my trades, they cater for futures options cfd's etc.
 
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