You buy or trade stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Some investors use options on stocks or cash indexes to protect and insure the value of their portfolios. A major advantage of options is their flexibility.  You can protect stock holdings from a decline in market price  You can increase income against current stock holding  You can prepare to buy a stock at a lower price  You can position yourself for a big market move even when you don' t know which way prices will move  You can benefit from a stock price rise without incurring the cost of buying the stock outright Stock options work much like stocks, opt