Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc fka ARIA

[sansana08]

OT: I have never traded option in my life, but I see that all the experienced investors here use option to trade with while holding their core position. I have been doing swing trades with 10% of my position all along. In your opinion, would it be better to stick with trading in and out as price fluctuate 5% every few days (which is what I have been doing) or would it be better for me to roll up my sleeve and learn how to use option. Based on what everyone else here is doing, I deduced that the option route is preferred.

Any advice on what is a good strike price, expiration date, contract price I should be looking at that might be worth looking at, as I learn how to do this. How much do you think the contract price factored in the year end target price analysts are predicting?

Also, I am with Scottrade. Is there a difference in cost of option trading between different trading houses?

It's about time I grow up and be less passive with my investment. Gotta hit the book on Option. Don't even know how to look up option prices in Scottrade. Any Scottrade user out there want to drop me a hint? Thanks in advance.