Saturday, December 31, 2016

Option Basics: Definition, Call Option, Put Option, Strike Price

Stock Option - An option is a contract where one person sells an option, that person is known as the option writer who then sells it to an option buyer, referred to as the option holder. The buyer of the option now has the right but does not have to buy (call) or sell (put) the security at the strike price, which was agreed to when the seller sold the option to the buyer. The option may be exercised during the time specified in the contract. Each option represents 100 shares of the underlying security. Mini options represent 10 shares of the underlying securities but are only available on AAPL, AMZN, SPY, and SPX.

Call Option - When a buyer acquires a call option, which is a contract where the buyer can but is not obligated to buy the underlying at a defined price within a certain amount of time. When a call option is bought, the buyer expects the price of the underlying to increase, and the call option will increase in value as the underlying increases.

Put Option - When a buyer acquires a put option, which is a contract where the buyer can but is not obligated to sell the underlying at a defined price within a certain amount of time. When a put option is bought, the buyer expects the price of the underlying to decrease and the put option will increase in value as the underlying decreases.

Strike Price - A strike price is the price where an option buyer can exercise the contract. When using call options, the strike price is where the buyer can buy the security regardless of where the security is trading currently When using put options, the strike price is where the buyer of the option can sell the specified security regardless of where the security is trading currently.

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