Most people understand that they can make money in the stock market when prices are rising across the board. It goes back to the age-old adage: Buy low, sell high. That's been the mantra since trading began on Wall Street more than 200 years ago. When many traders are optimistic about the stock market, they can send prices moving upward. When the prices for most stocks are going up on a regular basis, this is known as a bull market. It is named for a bull because of the animal's willingness to be part of a heard, thus when many traders to flocking to the market, they are acting as if they were bulls.

There are many strategies that can work during a bull market, techniques that work best when the market is trending upward. It's impossible to say which strategy will work the best, since that simply depends on the preference of the individual trader. Some traders are better equipped at handling risk than others, who desire to take a more conservative route.

While many traders still limit their investments to purchasing shares of stocks, today's well-informed participants in the stock market often take advantage of the options market. Using an option enables traders to control more shares of the stock at a lower price-per-share rate. But, unlike a stock purchase, an option is not a permanent transaction; options expire at a specific date and become worthless at that point. (Think of an option like a container of milk; there's a sell-by date stamped on the side for a reason.)

When using options in a bullish market, most traders will rely on trading call options. A call option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation to purchase a stock at a specific price (known as the strike price) on or before a specific date (known as the expiration date). If the price of the underlying stock or index increases, the increase will be reflected in the price of the option. Likewise, if the price of the asset decreases, the value of the call option will also show a reduction in value.

Long-term options (from nine months to two years) are also available for purchase or sale. These act just like short-term options, but behave more like stock, since the trader has a long time frame from which to make a decision and is able to sit through some of the inevitable retracements that occur in the market.