Options & Greeks

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Judevino 07

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 INDEX
Sr. no. TOPIC Page no.
1. What is an option? 3
2. What are call options? 3
3. What are put options? 4
4. Buying and Selling of options 4
5. Premium of options 5
6. Valuation of options 5
7. Option prices 6
8. Benefits and risk of option trading 6
9. Reducing risk 7
10. Risking your principal 7
11. What is option moneyness? 8
12. Long call risk characteristics 9
13. Short call risk characteristics 10
14. Long put risk characteristics 11
15. Short put risk characteristics 12
16. Overview of Greeks 13
17. Delta basics 13
18. Gamma basics 15
19. Theta basics 15
20. Vega basics 16
21. Rho basics 16
22. Conclusion 17
23. Bibliography 18

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What is an Option?

An option is a contract to buy or sell a specific financial product officially known as the option's
underlying instrument or underlying interest. For equity options, the underlying instrument is a
stock, exchange-traded fund (ETF), or similar product. The contract itself is very precise. It
establishes a specific price, called the strike price, at which the contract may be exercised, or
acted on. And it has an expiration date. When an option expires, it no longer has value and no
longer exists.

Options come in two varieties, calls and puts, and you can buy or sell either type. You make
those choices - whether to buy or sell and whether to choose a call or a put - based on what you
want to achieve as an options investor.

What Are Call Options?

A call option is a contractual agreement between a buyer and seller which gives the right, but not
the obligation, to the buyer to acquire a specified number of shares in a security at a predefined
price (strike price) within a predefined amount of time. Each options contract represents 100
shares in the underlying security; for example, 10 Apple July 09 $125 call options will allow the
holder of the call option to purchase 1000 shares of Apple at $125 on or before options
expiration week in July 2009.

Call options can be bought, sold, and even shorted. They are predominately used for purposes of
hedging but many traders will use them for speculative purposes as well. For example, the most
popular hedging strategy using calls is known as a covered call strategy. Traders will short calls
to offset a portion of the downside risk of a stock that they own or lower the net cost of
purchasing the stock. Conversely, a speculator may sell a call option without owning
the underlying security. This is known as a "naked" call and carries an unlimited risk.
Remember, you are basically selling another trader the option to buy a stock at a certain price;
therefore, the higher that the underlying moves, the more money you lose.

You can generally say that the price of a call option moves higher as the stock moves higher and
vice versa. The risk of buying a call option is merely the amount of money that was paid for the
option. The upside profit potential of a long call option is unlimited.

Advantages of Call Options

Buying call options introduce two distinct advantages to a trader. First, they provide traders with
a large amount of leverage. In our Apple example above, assume that the call was trading at
$10. Therefore, the buyer would have to pay $10,000 ($10 * $120 * 10) to control 1000 shares
of Apple which currently trades at $120. You can see there is a 10 times leverage factor in this

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example. If Apple runs up to $140 and the call option is exercised, a $10,000 profit will be
realized or 100%.

Secondly, as we have discussed above, call options allow traders to hedge their long positions,
but not totally eliminate the risk.

Disadvantages of Call Options

The key disadvantage to buying call options is that it will expire worthless if you buy it and the
underlying security does not move higher. However, if you sell an option, this is exactly what
you want to see happen. Additionally, in the wrong hands, options can be very dangerous.
Some traders may speculate that the market is going to move lower and sell a boatload of calls
only to watch the stock move higher and put them on the hook for delivering the shares.

What are Put Options?

A put option is a contractual agreement between the buyer and the seller of the option that gives
the right, but not the obligation, for the put holder to force the seller of the put to purchase the
underlying security at the strike price on the options expiration date. The buyer of a put
option believes that the stock may move lower and therefore, decides to purchase the insurance
to protect the downside risk and thereby locks in a sales price if the stock moves lower. See
the option risk profile of a put to understand the risks and rewards.

Puts may also be used for speculative purposes; if you short a put without it being a part of a
larger strategy, this is called a "naked" put. The seller of a naked put is taking a bet that the stock
will move higher and that the premium that was received will expire worthless.

You can generally say that the price of a put option moves lower as the stock moves higher and
vice versa. The risk of buying a put option is merely the amount of money that was paid for the
option. However, a put writer, or seller, has unlimited risk. The writer will be responsible for
purchasing the stock at a predefined price no matter how low the stock goes.

Buying and Selling of Options

If you buy a call, you have the right to buy the underlying instrument at the strike price on or
before the expiration date. If you buy a put, you have the right to sell the underlying instrument
on or before expiration. In either case, as the option holder, you also have the right to sell the
option to another buyer during its term or to let it expire worthless.

The situation is different if you write, or "sell to open", an option. Selling to open a short option

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position obligates you, the writer, to fulfill your side of the contract if the holder wishes to
exercise. When you sell a call as an opening transaction, you're obligated to sell the underlying
interest at the strike price, if you're assigned. When you sell a put as an opening transaction,
you're obligated to buy the underlying interest, if assigned. As a writer, you have no control over
whether or not a contract is exercised, and you need to recognize that exercise is always possible
at any time until the expiration date. But just as the buyer can sell an option back into the market
rather than exercising it, as a writer you can purchase an offsetting contract, provided you have
not been assigned, and end your obligation to meet the terms of the contract. When offsetting a
short option position, you would enter a "buy to close" transaction.

Premium of Options

When you buy an option, the purchase price is called the premium. If you sell, the premium is
the amount you receive. The premium isn't fixed and changes constantly - so the premium you
pay today is likely to be higher or lower than the premium yesterday or tomorrow. What those
changing prices reflect is the give and take between what buyers are willing to pay and what
sellers are willing to accept for the option. The point at which there's agreement becomes the
price for that transaction, and then the process begins again.

If you buy options, you start out with what's known as a net debit. That means you've spent
money you might never recover if you don't sell your option at a profit or exercise it. And if you
do make money on a transaction, you must subtract the cost of the premium from any income
you realize to find your net profit.

As a seller, on the other hand, you begin with a net credit because you collect the premium. If the
option is never exercised, you keep the money. If the option is exercised, you still get to keep the
premium, but are obligated to buy or sell the underlying stock if you're assigned.

The Value of Options

What a particular options contract is worth to a buyer or seller is measured by how likely it is to
meet their expectations. In the language of options, that's determined by whether or not the
option is, or is likely to be, in-the-money or out-of-the-money at expiration. A call option is in-
the-money if the current market value of the underlying stock is above the exercise price of the
option, and out-of-the-money if the stock is below the exercise price. A put option is in-the-
money if the current market value of the underlying stock is below the exercise price and out-of-
the-money if it is above it. If an option is not in-the-money at expiration, the option is assumed to
be worthless.

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An option's premium has two parts: an intrinsic value and a time value. Intrinsic value is the
amount by which the option is in-the-money. Time value is the difference between whatever the
intrinsic value is and what the premium is. The longer the amount of time for market conditions
to work to your benefit, the greater the time value.

Options Prices

Several factors, including supply and demand in the market where the option is traded, affect the
price of an option, as is the case with an individual stock. What's happening in the overall
investment markets and the economy at large are two of the broad influences. The identity of the
underlying instrument, how it traditionally behaves, and what it is doing at the moment are more
specific ones. Its volatility is also an important factor, as investors attempt to gauge how likely it
is that an option will move in-the-money.

Benefits and Risks of option trading

Most strategies that options investors use have limited risk but also limited profit potential. For
this reason, options strategies are not get-rich-quick schemes. Transactions generally require less
capital than equivalent stock transactions, and therefore return smaller dollar figures - but a
potentially greater percentage of the investment - than equivalent stock transactions.

Even those investors who use options in speculative strategies, such as writing uncovered calls,
don't usually realize dramatic returns. The potential profit is limited to the premium received for
the contract, and the potential loss is often unlimited. While leverage means the percentage
returns can be significant, here, too, the amount of cash changing hands is smaller than with
equivalent stock transactions.

Although options may not be appropriate for everyone, they're among the most flexible of
investment choices. Depending on the contract, options can protect or enhance the portfolios of
many different kinds of investors in rising, falling, and neutral markets.

Reducing Risk

For many investors, options are useful as tools of risk management, acting as insurance policies

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against a drop in stock prices. For example, if an investor is concerned that the price of his shares
in LMN Corporation is about to drop, he can purchase puts that give him the right to sell his
stock at the strike price, no matter how low the market price drops before expiration. At the cost
of the option's premium, the investor has insured himself against losses below the strike price.
This type of option practice is also known as hedging. While hedging with options may help you
manage risk, it's important to remember that all investments carry some risk, and returns are
never guaranteed. Investors who use options to manage risk look for ways to limit potential loss.
They may choose to purchase options, since loss is limited to the price paid for the premium. In
return, they gain the right to buy or sell the underlying security at an acceptable price for them.
They can also profit from a rise in the value of the option's premium, if they choose to sell it
back to the market rather than exercise it. Since writers of options are sometimes forced into
buying or selling stock at an unfavorable price, the risk associated with certain short positions
may be higher.

Many options strategies are designed to minimize risk by hedging existing portfolios. While
options can act as safety nets, they're not risk free. Since transactions usually open and close in
the short term, gains can be realized very quickly. This means that losses can mount quickly as
well. It's important to understand all the risks associated with holding, writing, and trading
options before you include them in your investment portfolio.

Risking Your Principal

Like other securities - including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds - options carry no guarantees,
and you must be aware that it's possible to lose all of the principal you invest, and sometimes
more. As an options holder, you risk the entire amount of the premium you pay. But as an
options writer, you take on a much higher level of risk. For example, if you write an uncovered
call, you face unlimited potential loss, since there is no cap on how high a stock price can rise.
However, since initial options investments usually requires less capital than equivalent stock
positions, your potential cash losses as an options investor are usually smaller than if you'd
bought the underlying stock or sold the stock short. The exception to this general rule occurs
when you use options to provide leverage: Percentage returns are often high, but it's important to
remember that percentage losses can be high as well.

What is Option Moneyness?

You will hear the following terms when dealing with options: in the money, at the money, and
out of the money. All three of these terms refer to the price of the options underlying security
relative to the strike price of a specific option on that security.

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In the Money (ITM)

If the underlying security value is higher than the strike price of a call option, the option will
have intrinsic value and is said to be "In the Money", or ITM for short. Put options work the
opposite way; if the underlying security is valued less than the strike price of the option, the
option is ITM. At expiration, the time value component of the option has completely decayed,
leaving the option worth its intrinsic value.

To take this one step further, an option which is significantly in a profit position is considered
Deep in the Money. Deep in the money options are significantly in the money to the point where
there is very little risk of them losing enough value to take them out of the money. For example,
if the strike price of a call option is $15 and the stock is worth $25, we can call this deep in the
money. Deep in the money options also have a very high delta, close to 1, -1 for puts. High delta
indicates that the option will nearly move $1 for every $1 point move in the underlying.

Out of the Money (OTM)

For a call option, "Out of the Money" indicates that an options strike price is above the current
price of the underlying security. If the option is out of the money, it has no intrinsic value and is
only worth the time premium. Again, the reverse can be said about put options; they are Out of
the Money if the current price of the stock is above the strike price of the option.

Options in this category can also be classified as deep out of the money options as well. Deep out
of the money call options have a strike price well above the current price of the security. Again,
the odds of a deep out of the money option going into the money are very low and as such, the
delta is very low for these options. This means that the options will not move up as fast as the
stock does in the case that the stock starts to rally.

At the Money (ATM)

"At the Money" refers to the underlying security having the same value, or one that is very close
to the options strike price and is also known as ATM.

LONG CALL RISK CHARACTERISTICS

Let's cover the risk profile of a call first. I believe examples in this section would be the best
way to cover this topic. We are going to start with a LONG CALL example.

Current Price of Stock $24.00

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 Option Exercise Price $20.00
Call Premium $5.25
Months Till Expiration 3

In this scenario, we would be buying deep in the money calls for $5.25, $4 in intrinsic value and
$1.25 for 3 months of time premium. The buyer of this call option is anticipating that
the underlying security will be higher than $25.25 ($20 exercise or strike price + $5.25 option
premium) within 3 months of time. Therefore, in our diagram below, the strike price is $20
while the breakeven price is $25.25. As the stock moves above point b* or breakeven, the call
buyer is in a profit position. For example, assume the stock reaches $30 at expiration; the call
buyer would be able to buy the stock at 10 point discount while only paying $5.25 for
that option.

Once the underlying security is above the strike price, the option will move penny for penny with
the security. The reward for the call buyer can be unlimited as the security can go as high as it
wants to.

SHORT CALL RISK CHARACTERISTICS

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When someone is buying an option, there is obviously a seller on the other side who believes that
the stock will not go above $25.25 within the next 3 months. Let's now take a look at the option
risk profile of an option writer. For the sake of clarity, the term "write" refers to shorting or
selling an option. Using the same example from above, the writer of the option has received a
premium of $5.25 and will continue to remain in a profit position as long as the stock does not
move above $25.25.

Shorting an option brings added risk, especially if the seller is "naked". The term "naked option"
refers to the idea that the seller of the stock does not own the underlying stock that may
eventually end up being called away by the purchaser of the option. Just like the naked put
option, selling naked calls is a risky proposition and should be done only after much experience
since there is no limit to the option based risk.

The most common use for selling a call is part of a common options strategy known as
the covered call. We will cover this strategy in far more detail, but the short story is that covered
calls limit your downside exposure and add that extra bit of insurance and cushion to your long
position.

LONG PUT RISK CHARACTERISTICS

Lets start with a new example for the put section:

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 Current Price of Stock $40.00
Option Exercise Price $40.00
Put Premium $5.00
Months Till Expiration 3

When initiating a long put option position, the option holder is looking to cover his/her downside
risk in the event the stock takes a larger than expected hit. Puts allow the put buyers the ability
to force the writer of the option to buy the underlying stock at the strike price.

You may be asking what the difference between selling a call and buying a put is. They both
limit your downside risk, right? Yes, but there are two key differences. Puts protect you against
disastrous or rapid declines in a securities value; calls will only limit the downside up to the
value of the premium you received for selling that call. The second key difference lies in the fact
that selling a call results in a net debit to your account balance while buying a put will result in a
net credit, or a cash outlay.

By going long the put option for $5 with a strike price of $40, the breakeven price would be ($40
+ $5), or $45. As the stock moves lower, the put buyer moves into a profit position, penny for
penny.

SHORT PUT RISK CHARACTERISTICS

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Finally, let's take a look at the short put risk chart. When you write a put option, or go short, you
are selling premium in anticipation that the stock will move higher and therefore you will be able
to eat the entire option premium. Alternatively, a potential buyer of a stock may want to get long
a stock and will sell puts to do it. Essentially, taking our example above, instead of buying the
stock at $40 a share, the investor could short the put option for $5 and be forced to buy it at $40
if the stock moves lower at expiration. The bet here is that the stock wont drop below $35 a
share. If the stock moves above $40 at expiration, the writer of the option would have made $5
per share as the option would never be exercised by the purchaser.

In our example below, the breakeven for this scenario would be ($40 - $5), or $35. As the stock
moves lower, the price of the put moves higher and this results in greater losses for the writer of
the put.

OVERVIEW OF OPTION GREEKS

Option Greeks measure the options sensitivity to various risk components inherent to the price of
an option. These measures include the speed of the underlying securities price movement,
interest rate movement, time decay of an option, and volatility.

Delta and Gamma measure the options sensitivity to the speed of price changes in the underlying
security, Rho measures the options interest rate sensitivity, Theta measures the change in the

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options price due to a change in the time left till expiration on the option, and Vega measures the
change in the options price due to changes in the options historical volatility.

DELTA BASICS

Delta measures the rate of change in the option price over the rate of change in the price of the
underlying security. Therefore, we can say that delta measures the speed of the option price
movement relative to a single point move in the underlying security. Long callsand naked
puts have positive delta while short calls and long putshave negative delta.

Delta = (rate of change in option price) / (rate of change in underlying security price)

If you own a call option at $2 when the stock was $30 and now the stock moves up to $31 and
the option does as well to $2.50. In our formula above, the delta in this situation would be ($2.5 -
$2) / ($31 - $30) = .5

Conversely, let's say you owned a put at $2.00 and the stock moved higher by one point which
resulted in the put option decreasing in value by $.5. The delta in this case would be ($1.5 - $2) /
($31 - $30) = -.5

The closer the delta is to 1 or -1, the greater response in the price of the option when the price of
the underlying changes.

The examples above assumed that nothing else changed; however, in reality, changes in vega,
theta, and rho can impact delta.

Delta Ranges for Calls and Puts

If an option is in the money, the delta for a call will approach 1 while the delta of a put will
approach -1. At the money (ATM) options will be near .5 and -.5 while out of the money options
will have a delta value approaching 0 as they move further out of the money. Also remember, as
the option comes closer to expiration, especially within 30 days, the delta curve becomes steeper;
basically, the option becomes more sensitive to price movement in the underlying.

Delta Neutral Trading

Delta neutral trading, also known as "hedge" trading is a method of trading where the total
position delta is 0. The idea is to hedge your position by slowing your position speed down.
Delta neutral trading is used by many traders to make profitable adjustments on their trade as the
price of the security moves up and down. For example, a popular strategy is to make adjustments
to your total position to bring it back to delta neutral after the underlying security has moved
20% in either direction. This can be done by making adjustments to the profitable side of your
trade.

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Let's create a simple example of a delta neutral trade. Assume we bought 100 shares of Microsoft
which would represent +100 deltas. We would need to either buy 2 at the money puts OR sell 2
at the money calls OR buy 1 at the money put and sell 1 at the money call. Either scenario would
get you to delta neutral.

Remember, delta neutral does NOT mean that you have set up a risk free position, it means that
you have slowed down the speed of the percentage changes of your position.

GAMMA BASICS

The delta of a stock relies on the price of the stock in relation to thestrike price of the option.
Therefore, when the stock price changes, so does the delta. This is where gamma becomes
relevant. Gamma is an estimation of the change in delta for a 1 point move in a stock and can be
thought of as the second derivative of delta. A large gamma value indicates that delta will shift
strongly as the underlying security moves up and down.

A long call and long put will have positive gamma while the short counterparts will always be
negative. A positive gamma refers to the idea that the delta of a long will become higher, or
closer to 1, as the underlying security moves higher. The long put gamma will also move closer
to -1 as the underlying security continues to move lower. The opposite can be said for short calls
and short puts.

Gamma reaches its highest value when a stock is trading at the money or near the money. This
value goes lower and lower as the security moves further out of the money or further in the
money. This makes logical sense as the option price has the highest probability of moving from
being OTM to ITM or ITM to OTM.

THETA BASICS

Theta represents the measure for time decay of an option. Remember, an option price consists of
intrinsic value and time premium. Theta measures the decay in time premium as every day
passes until options expiration. Therefore, we can say that the theta for a long call or put will be
negative while the opposite can be said for the short call and put. This is true because when you
are long an option, you will lose money in that option every day all else being equal due to the
time premium decaying. However, the time decay in a short option will increase your profits.

Theta does not adjust evenly as time goes on. The closer and closer the option is to expiration,
the greater the time decay. Theta will accelerate at a higher rate especially when the option has
less than 30 days to go. This also makes logical sense since the option has less time to get or stay
in a profitable situation. Additionally, an options theta will be highest when the stock is at the

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money. Since the stock has basically no intrinsic value, the time value component is the majority
of the premium and will fluctuate strongly as expiration approaches.

Relationship between Theta and Gamma

There is a direct correlation between theta and gamma. When an options gamma is high, the
theta moves higher as well. When we say higher, it means theta becomes more negative which
negatively impacts the time premium for a long option holder. Some options traders will actually
play the high theta by selling shorter term options and buying that same strike option with a
greater term to maturity at the same time. They are banking on the fact that the longer dated
option will have slower time decay than the shorter dated option.

VEGA BASICS

Moving on to the volatility component of an option; we measure the options price sensitivity to
volatility using Vega. Vega may also be referred to as kappa by some. Volatility can be
calculated by measuring the standard deviation of the last 30 days of closing prices in the
underlying security, commonly known as historical volatility. For example, if a $50 stock has a
30% volatility figure, you can say that the expectation is for the stock trade between $35 and
$65. Historical volatility is used to determine the fair value of the option; however, options rarely
trade in the open market at fair value. "Implied" volatility then estimates the volatility using the
market premium of the options. We do not want to go into too much detail on this but just know
that there are two measurements for volatility and that one is derived from past market data and
one is derived from current options premiums themselves.

We can go one step further to say that vega is a measurement of the change in the option price
for each 1% adjustment in volatility. Using our example, if the vega for this option was 20, we
can say that the option would move higher by $1.00 if the stock's volatility

Higher volatility, or vega, results in higher option prices. This is true because higher volatility
gives the option a better chance to expire in the money.

Options exhibit the highest vega when the underlying is at the money and gradually declines as
the stock moves ITM or OTM.

RHO BASICS

Our last greek, Rho, measures theoretical option price changes due interest rate shifts. While this
measure of option price sensitivity is the least used, it has more relevant context when applied to
higher priced stocks. Why? Remember that a call option commands a large amount of stock with
a relatively small amount of investment. Most times the value of the underlying that the option
commands is worth in excess of 10 times the value of the option itself. If you would have to buy
the stock, you would need quite a bit more money and the interest expense related that amount is
built into a call option premium. As you can see, as interest rates increase, a call option will
increase in value and a put option will decrease in value. It is for this reason that calls have a

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positive Rho when interest rates rise. Conversely, if interest rates fall, put premiums will increase
while call premiums will decrease

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Conclusion:
Options are the opportunity provided by the seller of the option to the buyer of the option to buy
or sell the underlying asset at a specified price at a fixed date. The fixed date is known as expiry
date and the specified price is known as strike price. In an option, the buyer has an option to buy
or sell the underlying asset, but not the obligation to do so, to the seller of the option.

The options are subjected to risk such as price movement, interest rate movement, time decay of
an option, and volatility this risk can be calculated by using the Greeks, i.e. Delta, Gamma,
Theta, Vega and Rho. These Greeks can be used to measure the risk of the option prices and help
in curbing the risks.

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Bibliography:

www.mysmp.com/options/

www.calloptionputoption.com

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