Stock options have been on the investment scene for many years now but still, few people understand them. I remember as far back as 30 years ago, I used to watch The Stock Market Observer on Channel 26 in Chicago. In this show, many sophisticated stock brokers would come on to give their market outlook, stock recommendations and answer client questions. Whenever someone would question the expert about options, the answer would almost always be the same…

“STOCK OPTIONS ARE TOO RISKY. STAY AWAY!”

The truth is, it was something new to them and outside of their comfort zone. Rather than learn something new or admit that they had limited knowledge about the subject, they tried to scare people away. But 30 years later, options are still an important part of today’s marketplace. If you want to make money consistently in the investment world, then you need to understand options!

The Basics

The first thing you need to know is that options are a RIGHT. The buyer of an option has the right, and not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying investment such as a stock, a future, even a house!, sometime in the future. The seller of the option has an OBLIGATION to deliver the underlying investment. For this obligation, the option seller is paid a sum of money that we will call PREMIUM.

There are two basic types of options. One is a CALL OPTION. The call option gives the buyer the RIGHT to buy a stock (or other underlying instrument) for a certain price at a certain time in the future. The other is a PUT OPTION. This gives the buyer the right to sell a stock at a set price by a certain time in the future. If you believe the price of a stock is going to go up, you would buy a CALL OPTION. If you believe the price of a stock is going to go down, you would buy a PUT OPTION.

Strike Price

The strike price is a critical part of the option. It is the price that the future transaction will take place at. For example, if you, as a call buyer, purchase a $ 50 option, you will have the right to buy the stock at $ 50 per share. It doesn’t matter what the current price of the stock is, you have the right to buy the stock at $ 50. If the stock is now at $ 75 a share, you can exercise the option to buy at $ 50 and immediately sell the stock in the open market at $ 75 and receive $ 25 back. If the stock however is at $ 40, there would be no point to buy the stock at $ 50. You would be better off to go to the open market to buy at $ 40. You can see that the $ 50 option probably would not have much value.

If you were a Put buyer though and purchased the $ 50 put, if the stock were at $ 40, you could exercise the put, sell the stock at $ 50 and buy it back in the open market for $ 40, receiving $ 10. If the stock price were at $ 75, there would be little value for the option.

Volatility Can Increase the Option Price

What if the stock price has been known to go up and down more than $ 10 in a week? Well, even if the stock were at $ 40 and you were the call buyer of a $ 50 call, you can see that there is a possibility that should the stock move by 10 points two weeks in a row, you could make money! The same goes for the put buyer. If you bought the $ 50 put and the stock is now at 40, it could drop to 30 or perhaps go up to 50. The more volatile the stock is, the more expensive the option price will be. Hopefully, you can see why.

TIME IS MONEY

Besides the strike price, and it’s relation to the current stock price, and volatility, a key factor in option pricing is TIME. All options expire at a certain date in the future. For stock options, that day is usually the third Friday of the option month. If you watch stocks regularly, you might see extra action around a stock price as the date approaches the third Friday of the month. Buyers and sellers might be unusually active at this time. You might see the price of the stock be moving towards a strike price number, such as $ 50, and vacillating around that number. Option expiration activities are often the driving force.

If you want to learn how to make money every month, you need to understand options.