Course Title: Cryptocurrency, Options, and Technical Analysis Trading
Course Duration: 16 Weeks
Course Format:
- Weekly lectures (2 hours)
- Hands-on trading sessions (2 hours)
- Weekly quizzes and assignments
- Final project: Developing a multi-market trading strategy
Week 1: Introduction to Financial Markets
- Overview of Financial Markets
- Equities, Forex, Commodities, and Cryptocurrencies
- The role of derivatives in financial markets
- Market Participants
- Retail traders, Institutional traders, Market makers
- Assignment: Compare the volatility of different markets and discuss their implications for traders.
Week 2: Basics of Cryptocurrency
- Understanding Cryptocurrency
- Blockchain technology, Decentralization, Cryptography
- Major cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Altcoins
- Cryptocurrency Market Infrastructure
- Exchanges, Wallets, and Storage solutions
- Assignment: Set up a cryptocurrency wallet and create an account on a trading platform.
Week 3: Fundamentals of Options Trading
- Introduction to Options
- Call and Put options, Option premiums, Strike price, Expiration
- Options Market Structure
- Exchanges, OTC markets, Options contracts
- Assignment: Analyze the payoff profile of a basic call and put option.
Week 4: Introduction to Technical Analysis
- Principles of Technical Analysis
- Difference between fundamental and technical analysis
- The importance of price action and market psychology
- Charting Basics
- Types of charts: Candlestick, Line, Bar
- Timeframes: Intraday, Daily, Weekly, Monthly
- Assignment: Identify basic chart patterns on historical price data for a chosen asset.
Week 5: Key Technical Indicators
- Trend Indicators
- Moving Averages (SMA, EMA), Bollinger Bands
- Momentum Indicators
- RSI, MACD, Stochastic Oscillator
- Volume Indicators
- Assignment: Apply technical indicators to a cryptocurrency and an options market chart.
Week 6: Advanced Chart Patterns
- Trendlines and Channels
- Identifying trends, Support and Resistance levels
- Reversal Patterns
- Head and Shoulders, Double Top/Bottom
- Continuation Patterns
- Triangles, Flags, Pennants
- Assignment: Analyze a chart for advanced patterns and make a trading decision based on them.
Week 7: Options Strategies
- Basic Options Strategies
- Long Call, Long Put, Covered Call, Protective Put
- Option Pricing Models
- Introduction to the Black-Scholes model
- The Greeks: Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega, Rho
- Assignment: Develop a basic options strategy using real market data.
Week 8: Options Risk Management
- Risk Management in Options Trading
- Hedging with options, Managing time decay
- Assignment: Analyze the risk and reward of an intermediate options strategy.
Week 9: Cryptocurrency Trading Strategies
- Trend Following Strategies
- Moving Average Crossover, Breakout Trading
- Counter-Trend Strategies
- RSI Divergence, Mean Reversion
- Volume-Based Strategies
- Assignment: Develop a trading strategy based on cryptocurrency market analysis.
Week 10: Advanced Options Trading
- Options Volatility Trading
- Volatility skew, Implied vs. Historical Volatility
- Assignment: Create and backtest a complex options strategy using real data.
Week 11: Risk Management and Trading Psychology
- Risk Management Techniques
- Leverage, Stop-Loss Orders
- Trading Psychology
- Controlling emotions, Handling losses, Discipline in trading
- Assignment: Design a comprehensive risk management plan for your trading strategy.
Week 12: Cryptocurrency Derivatives
- Understanding Cryptocurrency Derivatives
- Futures, Perpetual Contracts, Options on Cryptocurrencies
- Trading with Leverage
- Risks and rewards of leverage in crypto derivatives
- Assignment: Research and analyze a cryptocurrency derivative product.
Week 13: Portfolio Management
- Building a Diversified Portfolio
- Diversification, Asset Allocation, Rebalancing
- Managing a Multi-Asset Portfolio
- Combining stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies
- Assignment: Create a diversified portfolio including cryptocurrencies and options.
Week 14: Regulatory Environment and Taxation
- Cryptocurrency and Options Regulations
- Global regulatory landscape, KYC/AML compliance
- Taxation of Trading Activities
- Reporting cryptocurrency and options trading gains/losses
- Assignment: Investigate the regulatory requirements in your country for trading cryptocurrencies and options.
Week 15: Integrating Strategies Across Markets
- Cross-Market Analysis
- Correlation between markets, Arbitrage opportunities
- Developing a Multi-Market Strategy
- Combining technical analysis, options, and cryptocurrency trading
- Assignment: Create a multi-market trading strategy that integrates all the concepts learned.
Week 16: Final Project Presentation
- Final Project: Comprehensive Trading Strategy
- Students present a detailed trading strategy that includes cryptocurrency, options, and technical analysis.
- Review and feedback sessions.
- Course Recap and Q&A
- Review key concepts, Address any remaining questions.
Course Materials:
- Recommended Textbooks:
- "Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets" by John Murphy
- "Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives" by John C. Hull
- "Mastering Bitcoin" by Andreas M. Antonopoulos
- Online Resources:
- TradingView, Coin Market Cap, CoinGecko
- Software:
- Trading platforms like Binance, Bing X, MEXC, ThinkorSwim, or any preferred options trading platform
Assessment:
- Weekly Quizzes: 20%
- Assignments: 30%
- Final Project: 50%