Straight to the Source

This column was originally published on RealMoney on Feb. 14 at 11:24 a.m. EST. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers. For more information about subscribing to RealMoney, please click here.

While I always try to respond to reader requests for source material on options in the various forms -- books, websites, seminars, software and more recently blogs -- I realize I have not published a list since those lazy hazy days of last Labor Day weekend.

And because I'll be out of the office until later this afternoon, here is an updated, thoroughly consolidated, barely annotated, yet highly recommended list of places to click, quiver and blink away the day.

Building the base of the education pyramid, one can start with the Option Institute Corp. website. It is not only chock full of basic information from a glossary of terms, it offers basic strategies, an FAQ, books, and best of all, its 1-888-Options hotline is always manned by a friendly and knowledgeable staff. Don't know what's going to happen to your options after a spinoff or stock split? Give them a call. Another great educational site is Optionetics, which has a variety of screening tools and software.

RedOption breaks down some of the more popular trading strategies, has a great glossary and offers both live and online seminars. This site was developed by the guys that founded ThinkorSwim, the option-focused online brokerage firm which was acquired by InvesTools (IEDU Quote) last September.

For an added bonus, you can watch my video discussing that combination, which proved to be a great a buying opportunity as InvesTools has risen nearly 45% since the merger. The lesson? When former option market makers that built a company from the ground up choose a public path for pursuing personal mad money retirement numbers, assume they know what they are doing and don't take the other side of that trade. The people that dumped IEDU at $8 that day are now licking their wounds at $15 per share. But I digress...