Call Options vs Put Options Call Options versus put options Call options give the option holder the right to purchase an asset at a specified price (exercise or strike price) on or before a specified expiration date. A January 2, 2015 Call Option on Microsoft stock MSFT with an exercise price of $45 entitles its owner to purchase Microsoft stock for $45 at any time up to the expiration date of January 2, 2015. The holder of the call option is not required to exercise their option (purchase the stock). It only makes sense for the call option holder to exercise their option if the market value of the underlying stock exceeds the exercise price. This way the option holder can purchase the stock at a price that is lower than market value and then resell it at market value. The difference between the market value and the exercise will the option holder’s return. Options Contract s must be purchased by the option holder. The price that the options contract sells from is called the “premium”. In order for the option holder to make a profit on their investment the difference in the strike price and the market value must exceed the price that the options contract was purchased for. Options contracts are based off of 100 shares however the price is quoted on a per share basis. Therefore if the option price is quoted at $1.45 then the options contract would be purchased for $1.45 x 100 = $145.00. The options multiplier is the number of shares that the options contract represents therefore the options multiplier is 100. When the market price of the underlying stock exceeds the option’s strike price the holder can “call away” the stock purchasing it for the exercise price keeping the difference in the exercise price and the market price as their return. If the option is left unexercised it expires and has no value. Calls provide profit when prices increase, therefore purchasers of call options are generally “bullish” on the underlying asset. In contrast to call options are put options. Put options give the option holder the right to sell the underlying asset at a specified price on or before the expiration date. A January 30, 2015 put option on Microsoft stock MSFT with an exercise price of $45 allows the option holder to sell the option on or before the expiration date for $45. If the price of the underlying asset drops below the exercise price then the option holder can sell the stock to the put writer at the exercise price. Profits for put options are made when the value of the underlying asset decreases. As the underlying asset’s value decreases, the profits are increased for the holder of the put option. When the holder of a put option exercises the option his profits are the difference between the exercise price and the market price of the underlying asset. Below is an excerpt of call options quotations pulled from Etrade.com for MSFT call and put options. The current price for MSFT shares is $45.62. The “Strike Price” column is the price that the option holder can exercise their option for on or before the expiration date. If they hold a call option then the option holder can buy the underlying stock for the strike price. If they hold a put option they can sell the underlying stock for the strike price on or before the expiration date. The “open interest” column represents the number of options contracts that exist for this specific stock and the specified strike price and expiration date. The “volume” column is the number of options contracts traded over a specified period. The “net change” is the difference between the option’s current price and the previous day’s closing price. The “Last” column represent the latest price that the option traded for. The “Bid” column represent the price that potential buyers of the option are offering to purchase it for. The “Ask” column is the price that current holders of the option are willing to sell it for. When the bid and ask price meet the option’s contracts are sold. MSFT Options Listings Explained The price of options contracts decrease the closer the option gets to the expiration date. This is because the time-frame and chance for the underlying stock to reach favorable price levels decreases making the investment less attractive and therefore less expensive. Conversely, the further into the future the options contract’s expiration date, the higher the price to purchase the option. This is because the option holder will have more time for the underlying stock price to reach favorable prices where the option holder can exercise their option. This means that the option holder has a better chance of experiencing a return from their investment, therefore the investment is more expensive.

• published: 09 Sep 2015
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