Hive account@stehaller thank you for your reply; there are many different perspectives to discuss derivatives - perhaps I misspoke because I was referring to the BIG PICTURE, meaning how derivatives make ALL Markets less stable because..... Certainly options hedge risk, but it seems you are addressing individual trades? (I knew I should have kept my mouth shut...lol) Frankly, derivatives are WAY over my head...I looked up derivatives, trying to support my thinking - HA - there are multiparagraphs of confusion! Glad you have a handle on them...