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CHAPTER 15
Stock Options At a very exclusive party, a high-
Chapter Sections: class, finely-clad woman slinked
up to the CEO of a Fortune 500
Options on Common Stocks company and said, “I will do
The Options Clearing Corporation anything – anything you want.”
Why Options The CEO flatly responded,
Option “Moneyness” “Re-price my options.”
Option Payoffs and Profits
Option Strategies
Option Prices, Intrinsic Values, and Arbitrage
Employee Stock Options
Put-Call Parity
Stock Index Options
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What is an Option Contract?
A security that gives the holder the right to
buy or sell a certain amount of an underlying
financial asset at a specified price for a
specified period of time
Financial asset examples: Stocks, bonds, etc.
Options contracts are not investments
They are contracts between two investors
Buyer of the option contract gets the right to buy (or
sell) the financial asset at a given price for a given
period of time
Seller of the option contract must buy (or sell) the
asset according to the terms of the contract
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What is an Option Contract? (continued)
Options contracts are part of a class of
securities called derivatives
Derivatives are securities that derive their value
from the price behavior of an underlying real or
financial asset
Options contracts have no voting rights, receive
no dividends nor interest, and eventually expire
Their value comes from the fact that they allow
the holder of the option to participate in the price
behavior of the underlying asset
With a much lower capital outlay
By the way, options contracts are usually just referred to as options.
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What is an Option Contract? (continued)
Options allow an investor to leverage their
outlay of capital
Leverage – the ability to obtain a given equity
position at a reduced capital investment, thereby
magnifying returns (review)
With options, you can make the same amount of
money from a stock or other security as if you
bought it for full price
But only come up 1/10th or less of the money
Sounds too good to be true, huh? Well, you are right. It is too
good to be true. Much of the time, you lose the entire outlay.
Options have a time limit. Most options expire worthless.
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What is the Rational for Options?
Instead of buying a stock, buy an option to buy
a stock (or an option to sell a stock)
If the stock goes up, your option will go up (almost
always much, much faster) and you can sell the option
for a handsome profit
There is only one catch – The option expires in
three, six or nine months
If the stock does not go up, the option is worthless
Most options expire worthless (Surprise!)
There are some scenarios where options can be
worthwhile but they are few and far between!
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Option Contracts Example
Stock currently selling for $20
You buy a share of the stock for $20
If it goes up to $30, you have earned $10 on a $20
investment
You buy an option to purchase a share of the stock
at $20 currently selling at $20
It might only cost you $1 for the option
If the stock goes up to $30, your option price will
probably go up to around $11
You have earned $10 on a $1 investment
That is “leverage” in action
Congratulations! Pat yourself on the back!
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Option Contracts Example (continued)
But what if the stock price stays at $20
Your option expires worthless at the end of three,
six, or nine months
And, of course, after your option expires, the
stock price zooms to $40
You were so sure that this stock was going to hit
the big time and you were absolutely right
But because you bought an option that expired, you
lost the ability to share in the success of the stock
My advice? Forget about the option and just buy the stock! But
since this is an Intro to Investments class, we need to become
proficient in the concepts, terms, and techniques of options. So…
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Two Main Types of Options
Call Option Contract – a.k.a. “Call”
A negotiable instrument that gives the buyer of the
option the right to buy the underlying security at a
stated price within a certain period of time
(The previous example was a “call” option)
When people talk about options, they are usually
talking about call options
Put Option Contract – a.k.a. “Put”
A negotiable instrument that gives the buyer of the
option the right to sell the underlying security at a
stated price within a certain period of time
Opposite of a call option
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Two Main Types of Options (continued)
“Where did the terms ‘call’ and ‘put’ come from
and how will I remember which is which?”
The term “call” comes from the idea that when you
buy a call option, you get the right to “call the stock
away” from the seller of the option
The term “put” comes from the idea that when you
buy a put option, you get the right to “put the stock
to” the seller of the option
Get the idea? A “call” allows you to “call away the stock” from
someone (buy it from them).
A “put” allows you to “put the stock” to someone (sell it to them).
Let us look at each in detail.
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The Two Parties of a Call Option
Buyer of the call option contract
The Call Option Buyer of the contract is the
person who will do the “calling away”
They buy the right to “call the stock away from” (buy
it from) the call seller
They do not have to exercise the right
In fact, often the options contract expires worthless
Seller of the call option contract
a.k.a. Option writer, Option maker
The Call Option Seller of the contract is the
person who must sell the stock (“called away from”)
The call option seller is legally bound to sell the stock
to the call buyer
In return, they get the option price from the call option buyer
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The Two Parties of a Call Option (continued)
“What is the Call Option Buyer Hoping For?”
The call option buyer is hoping that the price of the
stock will go up – a call option buyer is bullish
If an option buyer has a call option to buy at $20 and
the price goes to $30, the buyer can buy a $30 stock
for only $20
“What is the Call Option Seller Hoping For?”
The call option seller is hoping that the price of the
stock will go down or stay the same – a call option
seller is bearish (or at least not very bullish)
If the stock stays around $20 or goes down, the call
option buyer will not want to exercise the option and
it will expire worthless
And the call option seller gets to keep the price of the option
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Call Option Example
Ed Ted
$20
Pays $1 call Gets $1
price
Call option buyer Call Option Contract Call option seller
The call option buyer The call option The call option seller wants
wants the price of the contract is tied the price of the underlying
underlying stock to go up. to the stock to go down.
He is bullish. underlying He is bearish.
No matter what happens to stock. It will No matter what happens to
the price of the stock, he vary up & the price of the stock, he
can buy it from (“call it down as the must sell it to (“called
away from”) the call stock varies. away from”) the call option
option seller for $20. buyer for $20 if exercised.
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The Two Parties of a Put Option
Buyer of the put options contract
The Put Option Buyer of the contract is the
person who will do the “putting to”
They buy the right to “put the stock to” (sell it to) the
put option seller
Again, they do not have to exercise this right
Recall: Often the options contract expires worthless
Seller of the put options contract
a.k.a. Option writer, Option maker
The Put Option Seller of the contract is the person
who must buy the stock (“put to”)
The put option seller is legally bound to buy the stock
from the put option buyer
In return, they get the option price from the put option buyer
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The Two Parties of a Put Option (continued)
“What is the Put Option Buyer Hoping For?”
The put option buyer is hoping that the price of the
stock will go down – a put option buyer is bearish
If an option buyer has a put option to sell at $20 and
the price goes to $10, the buyer can sell the $10
stock (“put it to the option seller”) for $20
“What is the Put Option Seller Hoping For?”
The put option seller is hoping that the price of the
stock will go up or stay the same – a put option seller
is bullish (or at least not very bearish)
If the stock stays around $20 or goes up, the put
option buyer will not want to exercise the option and
it will expire worthless
And the put option seller gets to keep the price of the option
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Put Option Example
Fred Ned
$20
Pays $1 put Gets $1
price
Put option buyer Put Option Contract Put option seller
The put option buyer wants The put option The put option seller wants
the price of the underlying contract is tied the price of the underlying
stock to go down. to the stock to go up.
He is bearish. underlying He is bullish.
No matter what happens to stock. It will No matter what happens to
the price of the stock, he can vary up & the price of the stock, he
sell it to (“put it to”) the put down as the must buy it from (“put to”)
option seller for $20. stock varies. the put option buyer for $20
if the option is exercised.
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Time for Questions on Options
“Options are confusing, aren’t they?”
In fact, the section on options is one of the hardest
parts of the Series 7 Stockbroker exam
“Options sound like gambling. I am right?”
Yes. Options are a form of gambling. It is a zero-sum
game. Someone wins, someone loses.
A family acquaintance once called me. “Hey, Frank. I
hear you can make a lot of money investing in options!”
I said, “Wait a minute. Yes, you can make a lot of
money; you can also lose a lot of money. But you can’t
invest in options. You can speculate in options. You
can not invest in something that has a 60% chance of
being worthless in three months! That is not investing.”
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Option Attributes
Strike Price – a.k.a. Exercise Price
The contract price between the buyer of an option
and the seller of the option
The stated price at which you can buy a security with
a call option or sell a security with a put option
Listed options traditionally sold in…
$2.50 increments for stocks selling for less than $25
$5.00 increments for stocks selling between $25 & $200
$10.00 increments for stocks selling for greater than
$200
But pricing is more flexible now
There are some stock options that sell in $1 increments
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Option Attributes (continued)
Expiration Date
The date at which an option expires
Listed options always expire at the close of the
market on the third Friday of the month of the
option’s expiration
The hour before close of the market on the third
Friday is sometimes called the “witching hour”
As well as stock options, there are also stock index options and
stock index futures which we will discuss later. When all three –
stock options, stock index options, and stock futures – expire on
the same day, then it is called the “triple-witching hour.”
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Option Attributes (continued)
Exercise Style
American options
Can be exercised at any time before the expiration
European options
Can only be exercised at expiration
Normally, if you wanted to take a profit from an option that had
done well and there was still significant time until the expiration
date, you would simply resell the option instead of actually
exercising the option. However, with an American-style option, if
you really wanted the stock, you could exercise the option and
buy (or sell) the stock before the expiration date. By the way,
there are several other types of options with various provisions.
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Quotations of Listed Options
Go online to finance.yahoo.com
Choose Investing | Options
(You could also just enter http://biz.yahoo.com/opt)
Enter the symbol for the stock under Options Lookup
(Not in the box next to the button labeled [Get Quotes] in the
upper portion of the screen)
Or, when you are viewing the quote of a stock, you
could simply choose the Options link on the left
hand side of the screen
The list of available options contracts and their prices for a
particular security is called an option chain.
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Options Contracts
Buying & Selling (writing, making) Options Contracts
We have discussed options contracts as if they
were traded just as stocks are traded
In most ways, they are very similar
But there is one major difference
Options are sold as “contracts”
Each contract represents one hundred shares of
underlying security
There are no odd-lots on the options exchanges
So if the listed price of the option is $5, then one contract will cost
$500 ($5 * 100 shares). Two contracts will cost $1,000, etc.
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Options Contracts (continued)
Option Premium
The quoted price the option buyer pays to buy a
listed put or call option
The seller (a.k.a. writer, maker) receives the premium
immediately and gets to keep it whether or not the
option is ever exercised
(Did I mention that most options expire without being
exercised? That most options expire worthless?)
To make it more confusing, the term premium is also used in a
more precise manner when valuing options. For this reason, most
people always refer to the price of the option instead of the
premium of the option.
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Valuations of Options
“In-the-money” Call Option
A call option with a strike price less than the
market price of the underlying security
Example: Call Strike Price $50
Market Price $54
$4 “In-the-money”
“Out-of-the-money” Call Option
A call option with no real value because the strike
price exceeds the market price of the stock
Example: Call Strike Price $50
Market Price $47
$4 “Out-of-the-money”
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Valuations of Options (continued)
“In-the-money” Put Option
A put option with a strike price greater than the
market price of the underlying security
Example: Put Strike Price $50
Market Price $46
$4 “In-the-money”
“Out-of-the-money” Put Option
A put option with no real value because the
market price exceeds the strike price of the
stock
Example: Put Strike Price $50
Market Price $52
$2 “Out-of-the-money”
Call Option 25
Valuations of Options: Example
Call Option Example (Strike price $50, Option price $10)
Theoretically, for every $1 above the strike price, the call buyer
earns a dollar and the call seller (a.k.a. call writer) loses a $1.
Call Option 26
Valuations of Options: Example (continued)
Call Option Example (Strike price $50, Option price $10)
But the previous graph ignored the price of the option. The call
buyer had to pay $10 and the call seller received $10.
Put Option 27
Valuations of Options: Example (continued)
Put Option Example (Strike price $50, Option price $10)
Again, theoretically, for every $1 below the strike price, the put buyer
earns a dollar and the put seller (a.k.a. put writer) loses a $1.
Put Option 28
Valuations of Options: Example (continued)
Put Option Example (Strike price $50, Option price $10)
But again, the previous graph ignored the fact the put buyer had to pay
$10 for the option and the put seller (a.k.a. put writer) earned $10.
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Valuations of Options (continued)
Time Premium
The amount by which the option price exceeds the
option’s “in-the-money” value
In general, the longer the time to expiration, the
greater the size of the time premium
If an option is “out-of-the-money,” then the entire
price of the option is due to the time premium
In other words, an option that is “in-the-money” will sell for more
than the amount it is “in-the-money” because of the time
remaining until the expiration date. Often, an option that is “out-
of-the-money” will still have time value. The option still has time
to become worth more (as the underlying stock price changes).
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Commissions on Option Contracts
And Do Not Forget Commissions!
In the previous examples, we did not include the
cost of the commissions
A commission is charged whenever an option is
bought or sold
Both buyer and seller pay a commission
And a commission is charged when and if the buyer
exercises the option and buys or sells the stock
Again, both buyer and seller pay a commission
When you include the commissions, it makes it that
much harder to make money in options
But if you are a broker, you would simply love to have your
clients get hooked on options. P.S. None of my clients trade
options. I would do my best to talk them out of it if they asked to!
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Option Strategies
Speculating – You will often hear…
“If you feel the market price of a particular stock is
going to move up…”
“If you anticipate a drop in price within the next six
months…”
“It is a highly risky investment strategy, but it may
be suited for the more speculatively inclined.”
The flaw in these arguments is this: There has never been a
successful method to predict stock prices in the short term. You
may “feel” or “anticipate” that the price will go up or down, but
that does not mean that it will. It is not investing, it is gambling.
Plus, you may be correct but your option may expire before you
are proven correct.
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Option Strategies (continued)
Hedging
A transaction or series of transactions made to
reduce the risk of adverse price movements in an
asset
Hedging can be thought of as insurance
And although insurance can be useful in some
circumstances, it is not free
You pay for the insurance via the price of the option
and the commissions
Investors can use hedging strategies when they are unsure of
what the market will do. A perfect hedge reduces your risk to
nothing (except for the cost of the option and the commissions).
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Option Strategies (continued)
Hedging Example
You own 100 shares of Butterfly.com and it is
currently selling for $50
You are afraid the price will plummet within the
next 3 months to $10
You purchase a put at $50
No matter what happens, you can sell the stock for
$50 … but only until the option expires
Then you must go out and buy more insurance
This is called a “protective put”
Insurance is not free. Using options as insurance is one way
to keep your broker very happy. If you are sure the stock will
fall, why not just sell the darned thing?
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Option Strategies (continued)
Straddle
The simultaneous purchase (or sale) of a put and a
call on the same underlying financial asset
If the price is volatile in either direction, up or down,
you will make money (providing you pass the break-even
point for both purchases plus the commissions)
If the stock price is not volatile, you would sell
(a.k.a. write, make) the straddle and hope that the
price does not change greatly
Two commissions at the same time! Your broker is gonna’ really
love you!
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Option Strategies (continued)
Straddle Example
Butterfly.com is selling for $50 but its price is
extremely volatile
You purchase a call for $50 and a put for $50
The price of the call option is $4 and the price of the
put option is $5
Now, no matter which way the price goes, one of
your options will be in-the-money
But the call cost you $4 and the put cost you $5, so the price has to
move at least $9 either way before you break-even. And we did not
include the cost of the commissions. You paid two commissions for the
straddle and possibly one more for exercising the option.
Brilliant strategy, huh? Wait, it gets better.
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Option Strategies (continued)
Spread
The simultaneous purchase and/or sale of two or
more options with different strike prices and/or
expiration dates
Example: Stock selling for $50
Buy a call at a strike price of $50
Sell a call at a strike price of $55
You paid for the call at $50, you got paid for the call
at $55
If the stock price rises, you make money
The possibilities are endless. And so are the commissions.
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Option Strategies (continued)
Selling Options – a.k.a. Writing Options, Making Options
Selling options allows the individual investor to play
the part of the casino
You become the Las Vegas casino and the option
buyers are betting against you
“More often than not, the option writer is right.”
Most options expire worthless
Have I mentioned this yet?
No matter what happens, the option seller gets the
buyer’s premium – the price of the option
If and when I ever begin trading options, it will be as an option
writer. But that does not mean you still can not lose big.
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Option Strategies (continued)
Selling Options (continued)
Covered Options
Options written against stock owned (or sold short)
by the writer
Naked Options – a.k.a. Uncovered Options
Options written on securities not owned (or sold
short) by the writer
The amount of return to the option writer is always limited to
the amount of option premium received. But the loss can be
substantial, even unlimited in the case of a naked call, a.k.a.
uncovered call.
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Option Strategies (continued)
Selling Options (continued)
Covered Call
You own a stock and you are considering selling
You write a covered call and receive the premium
If the stock price jumps substantially, the stock will
be called away from you (You will be forced to sell)
If the stock price stays the same or goes down, the
option will expire worthless
And you can then write another covered call
In either case, you get to keep the premium
This strategy is only one of two option strategies I personally
would ever consider.
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Option Strategies (continued)
Selling Options (continued)
Covered Call Example
You own Butterfly.com and it is currently selling for
$50 a share – You bought it at $40 and want to sell
You write a covered call at $55 and receive $500
since the premium for a $55 call is currently $5
If the stock price jumps over $55, it will be called
away from you at $55
It is as if you actually sold it for $60 ( $55 + $5 )
If the stock prices stays below $55, you can write
another covered call
This strategy allows you to make extra money from a stock that
you already own. Do you see any disadvantages?
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Option Strategies (continued)
Selling Options (continued)
Naked Put
You are considering purchasing a stock and you
have the cash to make the transaction
You write a naked put and receive the premium
If the stock price falls substantially, the stock will be
put to you (you will have to purchase it)
If the stock price stays the same or goes up, the
option will expire worthless
And you can then write another naked put
In either case, you get to keep the premium
This is the only other option strategy that I would
personally consider.
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Option Strategies (continued)
Selling Options (continued)
Naked Put Example
You are considering purchasing Butterfly.com and it
is currently selling for $50 and you have the cash
You write a naked put at $45 and receive a $300
premium since the cost of a $45 put is currently $3
If the stock price falls below $45, the stock will be put
to you at $45
It is as if you bought it at $42 ( $45 - $3 )
If the stock price stays the same or goes up, you can
write another naked put
This strategy allows you to make extra money from a stock that
you want to purchase. Do you see any disadvantages?
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Employee Stock Options
Employee Stock Options (a.k.a. ESOs)
An option granted to an employee by a company
giving the employee the right to buy shares of stock
in the company at a fixed price for a fixed time
Usually have some significant differences from
normal call options
Cannot be sold
Expire in many years (up to 10 years)
Usually have a vesting period (typically 3 to 7 years)
If you leave before the vesting period is over, you lose your
stock options
During the tech boom of the late 1990’s, ESOs were used extensively
to attract employees to start-up companies.
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Employee Stock Options (continued)
Employee Stock Options (a.k.a. ESOs)
During the 2000-2002 bear market, ESOs were the
subject of much controversy
There is still some fall-out and publicity as
companies and the SEC continue to wrangle over
how and even if they should be used
Currently, companies can give ESOs to their
employees and not have to pay anything
They do not reduce the company’s earnings
Many companies have agreed to expense stock
options
Unfortunately, how do you come up with a price for
something that is currently worthless?
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Employee Stock Options (continued)
Employee Stock Options (a.k.a. ESOs)
To make matters worse, while some people became
fabulously wealthy through ESOs during the Internet
mania,
Example: John Moores of Padres & Peregrine fame
Many other people were socked with crippling tax
burdens on worthless pieces of paper when their
companies collapsed!
How can that be, you ask?
The AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) does not care if you
never exercise the options
You still owe the tax on the paper gain
Even if you never were able to realize the gain – Bizarre!
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Valuations of Options – Revisited
“Wait a minute. Did you ask, ‘How do you
come up with a price for something that is
currently worthless?’”
Yes, that is correct. Since many ESOs are “out-of-
the-money”, often by a large amount, or can not be
exercised for a long time, or both, how does the
company put a price on it?
The financial world currently uses a system called
the Black-Shoales Option Pricing Model
It may sound impressive, but it is really very silly
In my humble opinion…
Chapter 16 is devoted to the Black-Shoales model. We are
going to ignore it, if you do not mind.
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Valuations of Options – Revisited
Example: The Black-Shoales Option Pricing
Model
Stock currently selling for $7.50 per share
Employee stock option has an exercise price of $10
It is currently “out-of-the-money”
Plus the option can not be exercised for 3 years
The Black-Shoales model might say that the
employee stock option is worth $2.50
Huh? You can not sell it. You can not exercise it for 3 years.
It is “out-of-the-money.” How is it worth $2.50? The stock price
might never go over $10. And if you are unfortunate enough to
be affected by the AMT, you might have to pay taxes on it!
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Stock-Index Options
A put or call option written on a specific stock
market index, such as the S&P 500
A stock-index option allows an investor to purchase
or sell an option that responds to a stock market
index
Can hedge a portfolio by purchasing a put on a
stock-index option that represents the portfolio
Acts as insurance against a large loss (until it expires)
Over 75 indices represented
Large, mid, small cap stocks
Domestic, international, regional, country-specific
Whether speculating or hedging, it is still risky and expensive.
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Other Types of Options
Interest Rate Options
Put and call options written on fixed-income
securities such as bonds
Currency Options
Put and call options written on foreign currencies
Can be an important tool for foreign investors and
multi-national corporations who must periodically
convert U. S. Dollars to and from other currencies
LEAPS
Long-term Equity Anticipation Securities
Long-term options – 9 months to 3 years (?)
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Warrants
A long-lived option that gives the holder the
right to buy stock in a company at a price
specified on the warrant
Warrants are usually issued by the same company
that issues the underlying stock
Often as accompanying securities to bonds
Or as compensation to employees (like ESOs)
Unlike options where each contract represents 100
shares of stock, one warrant represents the right to
buy one share of stock
Warrants are always call options
There are no put warrants
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Final Comments on Options?
STAY AWAY
FROM THEM!
The possibilities are endless, and so are the commissions.
(Wait! Let’s hear what Optionetics has to say about options!)
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CHAPTER 15 – REVIEW
Stock Options
Chapter Sections:
Options on Common Stocks
The Options Clearing Corporation
Why Options
Option “Moneyness”
Option Payoffs and Profits
Option Strategies
Option Prices, Intrinsic Values, and Arbitrage
Employee Stock Options
Put-Call Parity
Stock Index Options
Next week: Chapter 14, Futures Contracts