Options are contracts on an underlying trading instrument such as shares of stock, bonds, a commodity, a mortgage loan and many others. However, there are common features among all options. It does not matter if it is a share of stock or a mortgage loan; they all have certain things in common. One such commonality is the contract feature that specifies what the option owner has actually contracted.
Options traders have two situations that may influence their buying and selling: calls and puts. There terms are used to indicate specific behaviors of options at various points of the option's life.
CALLs
A call bestows on the contract holder the right to purchase an asset at a particular price on or before the option's expiration date. This is only a right to buy, it is not an obligation. The call owner always has the choice to allow the option to expire. This does mean that all the initial money that was invested in purchasing the contract is lost, but the choice still stands.
Call buyers are gambling on the underlying asset's behavior; that it will increase in price before it reaches its expiration date. Also that it will not only rise, but will rise significantly enough to show a profit.
In order to show a profit, the price must rise enough to cover the difference between the market price and the strike price. The strike price is that price at which the stock must be bought. But, because the option has a cost attached to it, the price must exceed that amount enough to cover the additional amount. This cost is referred to as the premium.
The premium of an option, whether call or put, is determined by a variety of elements. These include, but are not limited to, the price of the underlying asset, the strike price and the time remaining on the option.
The time remaining on an option is vital. The shorter the time remaining, the greater the risk and vice versa. For example, if there are 90 days left to exercise an option, the risk is somewhat lower than if there was only 1 day left. This is because within that 90 day period the price could rise enough to show a profit. With just 1 day remaining, however, the odds are considerably lower.
For example, on April 1, MSFT (Microsoft) has a market price of $27. Call options for June 30 are selling for $3 with a strike price of $30. One contract for 100 shares is purchased.
If the contract is held until the expiration date, the trader either loses $300 ($3 X 100, the initial price of the contract not including commission) or the trader can purchase the underlying stock at $30. If the current market price was $35, then the trader has profited by $200 ($35 - ($30 + $3) = $2 per share X 100 shares, sans commission).
When the market price of a share rises above the strike price, the option holder is "in the money." If the market price drops, then the holder is "out of the money."
PUTs
A put gives the option buyer the right to sell an asset at a particular price by a specified date. Again, like a call, this is a right, not an obligation.
Put buyers are anticipating the stock prices to fall before the option's expiration date. Therefore, in such cases, the market price must drop below the strike price in order to show a profit from exercising the option. For simplicity purposes, the cost of the put is ignored. Under those circumstances the option holder is in the money.
Still using the previous example, maintain the same situation, but this time the option is a put. If the market price falls to $25, the profit would be as follows:
First, $3 x 100 = $300 = Cost of put, excluding commissions.
Purchase 100 shares at $25 per share = $2,500 this is to repay the broker 'loan' (this broker loan is a part of shorting stock which is borrowing shares you don't own, then repaying later).
Sell 100 shares at Strike price = $30, 100 x $30 = $3,000
Profit = ($3000 - $2500) - ($300) = $200.
It is the broker who handles the underlying mechanics. All the investor has to do is order the trades at a given time and date.
Wise investors do their homework and research their strategies, no matter if they are investing in calls or puts. Options trading does present risks and is rather complicated when compared to simple stock trading, although all trading contains an element of complication and risk. But investors in this line should study the history, volatility and other vital factors of both the option contract and the underlying asset.
A trader should never enter the market blindly and trade without doing the proper research first. The failure to do adequate research and go into the trade informed puts the trader at a must greater risk of losing money and not showing a profit.
Under the proper conditions, options do not have to be paired with stock or another option to be an effective trading tool. To successfully trade naked options, an investor must realize that certain options will fit certain scenarios and certain options will not.
One of the major misconceptions that investors have about options stems from the fact that most do not know how to trade them properly. When they lose money trading them, they feel that there is something wrong with the option. They do not understand that options are on a higher, more sophisticated level when compared to stocks.
Stock trading has fewer variables involved and is therefore easier. No one is saying that the individual investor isn't smart enough to trade options. The problem is not intelligence; it's just education and experience. Most investors have not been properly educated in the proper use of options, and even fewer have had any real experience trading them.
One of the biggest problems investors have is this: Even if you buy a call and the stock goes up, you can still lose money. Most investors tend to buy out of the money options at a cheap price. The stock trades up a little, which is the right direction, but the option still loses money and the investor wonders why.
What the investor fails to realize is that in order for the option to be profitable the options delta must out-pace its rate of decay. Implied volatility also plays a key role if the stock does trade up while implied volatility decreases, the options delta must then outperform the decrease in volatility. Remember, when volatility increases, the price of all options goes up. When volatility decreases, the price of all options goes down.
We have categorized options in several ways. One way is by the option's strike price, and its distance from the stock price. We identified these options as either in-the-money, at-the-money, or out-of-the-money.
In our discussion about trading naked calls and puts, we will identify trading opportunities or situations that fit each of these types of options, for both calls and puts. But it is important to first review the definition of Delta before continuing.
Remember, delta tells you how much the option will move with a similar move in the stock and is given as a percentage. For example, a 33 delta option means that the option will move 33% of the movement of the stock and 70 delta option will move 70%. In-the-money options act like stock. The deeper in the money the calls are, the more they act like the stock. As the call moves deeper and deeper in the money, the calls delta approaches 100 which means it's price movement will reflect 100% of the stock's movement. (This is discussed in more detail later in “The Stock Replacement Covered Call Strategy").
In fact, deep-in-the-money options are sometimes even used to replace stock positions. If you look at the charts below, you can see how closely the in-the-money call mimics the upward movement of the stock (2nd quadrant).
In the money options are best used for smaller stock movements. The reason is that in-the-money options contain less extrinsic value. The extrinsic value can work against you when purchasing an option because extrinsic value is affected by time decay.
As you wait for your stock movement, the in-the-money option will decay less than either the at-the-money or out-of-the-money options because it has less extrinsic value. The amount of money you lose in time decay must then be made back by additional stock movement.
Obviously, the less you lose in decay, the less the stock has to move for you to be profitable because it has less decay loss to make up for.
This is because an in-the-money call has a high delta and a much higher percentage chance of finishing in-the-money by expiration so they follow the stock more closely.
With less extrinsic value loss to make up for, a smaller movement in the stock will produce a greater profit. For a call example, as you can see in the chart below, the in-the-money produces a profit with the least amount of stock movement. With less extrinsic value, the ITM option has a lower break-even point.
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Amar Mahallati has sinced written about articles on various topics from Travel and Leisure, Family and Family Travel. Visit to find books, tips and advice about. Amar Mahallati's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.
Webmarket Reports has sinced written about articles on various topics from Legal Matters, Direct Marketing and SEO Articles. About author:Ron Ianieri is a professional options trader, former floor trader, and market maker on the PHLx options exchange. As co-founder of the Options University, Ron teaches hundreds of aspiring options traders from all over the world how to t. Webmarket Reports's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.