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1993-11-24
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BBS: Channel 1(R) Communications [ATI 2400 v.42] 617-354-7077
Date: 02-18-93 (14:45) Number: 13468
To: KIRT MCALEXANDER Refer#: NONE
From: JACK HOCH Read: NO
Subj: OPTIONS REPOST 2 OF 3 Status: PUBLIC MSG
Conf: Finance (52) Direction: FORWARD
Now, in-the-money options are less risky because they already possess
what is known as "intrinsic value". For instance, the DEC 55 calls
in Case 1 are selling for $5½ (really $5.50 x 100 = $550.00 plus
commission per contract). The stock price of IBM is $60. One DEC 55
call contract gives you the right to buy 100 shares of IBM at $55.00
between now and option expiration. So, if the stock is at $60, you
could immediately exercise your DEC 55 call and buy 100 shares of IBM
at 55! You could then sell the stock on the open market for $60.00/
share, immediately realizing a $5/share profit (minus commission).
But, since you paid $550 (really $550.00 + commission) for the right to
do this, you're actually out the commission and a little more. Even so,
the option you're buying has an immediate "intrinsic value" of $5
per contract and is said to be "in the money". That extra $0.50 per
contract you paid was the "time value" of the option. Out of the money
options have no "intrinsic value". They are 100% "time value".
Looking at Case 2 and assuming you bought the DEC 55 options as
priced in Case 1, you see you've again lost some money, but not
nearly as much as you would have percentage-wise had you bought the
out-of-the-money 65 calls. In two weeks, the stock hasn't moved,
and your options have declined in value from 5½ to 5. The out of
the money calls went from ¼ to 1/16 (worthless).
Now in most cases, for EQUAL AMOUNTS of contracts purchased, your
absolute loss is less with the out-of-the-money calls than with the
in-the-money calls, but the percentage lost is greater. Again, I'm
ignoring commissions.
Out of the money:
4 DEC 65 contracts at ¼ initially cost you $100.00.
After 2 weeks, this position is worthless. You've lost $100.00
which was 100% of your invested capital.
In the money:
4 DEC 55 contracts at 5½ initially cost you $2200.00. After two
weeks the DEC 55 contracts are priced at 5. You've lost
4 x 100 x (5½ - 5) = $200.00 which is only 9% of your invested
capital.
You can see your financial commitment was greater with in-the-money
options and your absolute loss was greater, but your percentage
loss was much smaller.
You must be saying, "gee, with all the losing examples we've had, why
would anyone want to buy call options"? Well below is an example of the
plus side of it. The following table shows all December positions
profitable at expiration:
CASE 4: IBM last trade: $70.00, at Dec. expiration.
Contract Price Contract Price Contract Price
Dec 55 14 3/4 Jan 55 15½ Mar 55 16
Dec 60 10 Jan 60 11 Mar 60 11½
Dec 65 5 Jan 65 6½ Mar 65 7½
Remember those DEC 65 call options we bought for ¼ in Case 1? Well,
they're worth 5 now! You can calculate the % gain on that one. The DEC
55s we bought at 5½ in Case 1 are now worth 14 3/4! Another hefty
gain!
I'm assuming for this example that the stock price moved up 10
points in two weeks. That's a lot, but certainly not unheard of.
Had it moved up a more modest 5 points in that amount of time, all
the options would have been profitable except for the DEC 65s.
Now, I haven't talked about the January or March series, but you
can look at the tables and see for yourself how the option prices
behave with regard to underlying stock price over time.
When I buy options I tend to buy those contracts that are
in-the-money and longer term. I'll be getting less leverage, but
I'll also be reducing my risk. Personally, I still think there's
plenty of leverage in options which are 4 to 6 months in length and
3 to 5 bucks in-the-money.
In this example, had I bought one MAR 55 call in Case 1 (initial
investment 7¼ x 100 = $725.00 before commission), with the
stock moving up 5 points in two weeks (Case 3), I would have netted
a profit of 11-7¼ = 3 3/4 x 100 = $375.00 before commission. Had I
bought 100 shares of the stock instead, I would have made a $500
profit in the same amount of time, but on an investment of $6000!
Monetary gain: option = $375.00
stock = $500.00
Percentage gain: option = 1100/725 x 100 = 52%
stock = 6500/6000 x 100 = 8%
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Continued >>>>>>>>>>>>>> <groan!>
Inflating: OPTION3.TXT <to console>
BBS: Channel 1(R) Communications [ATI 2400 v.42] 617-354-7077
Date: 02-18-93 (14:45) Number: 13469
To: KIRT MCALEXANDER Refer#: NONE
From: JACK HOCH Read: NO
Subj: OPTIONS REPOST 3 OF 3 Status: PUBLIC MSG
Conf: Finance (52) Direction: FORWARD
Ok, we finally have the end in sight....(are you still sane???) <G>.
Here are some general conclusions:
1) In-the-money options are less risky than out of the money
options because in-the-money options possess "intrinsic value".
2) Your % gains and losses with in-the-money options are normally
less than those for out of the money options. Less risk and less
reward.
3) The further out in time you go for a given strike price, the more
expensive the option, but the slower the rate of change of price of
the option.
4) The "decay rate" of the "time value" for options increases as
you draw closer to option expiration.
5) Volatility of the underlying stock greatly affects the premium
(time value) above the strike price one pays for a given option
on a stock. The more volatile the stock, the more expensive the
option premium.
6) Options = leverage. Using options, you stand to profit or
lose close to the same amount as if buying the stock, but you're
using much less principal. However, the odds of "winning"
with option buying is less because of the time constraints.
7) Different investors use the leverage provided by options in
different ways. Combining in-the-money and out-of-the-money
options allows an investor to define his/her risk.
8) The most important aspect of option buying relates to the
quality of the underlying stock. Analyze the stock first, then
try to find the option which most suits your situation and risk
tolerance.
Well, I'm fried. I can't believe I went on like this for 3 entire
messages, but if it does anyone any good then I'll feel vindicated.
Let's hope the stock market isn't as boring in the future as it
was today! <g>.
Inflating: OPTIONS.TXT <to console>
BBS: Channel 1(R) Communications [ATI 2400 v.42] 617-354-7077
Date: 02-18-93 (14:45) Number: 13467
To: KIRT MCALEXANDER Refer#: NONE
From: JACK HOCH Read: NO
Subj: OPTIONS REPOST 1 OF 3 Status: PUBLIC MSG
Conf: Finance (52) Direction: FORWARD
Reposted by special request:
Recently on another net, I was asked by an individual to help him
understand a little bit about options. The next thing I knew, the
stock market was boring and I had expurgated, from the inner
workings of my cranium, a 3 message litany on options. I've decided
to post these messages here in RIME Finance in the hopes that there
may be some lurkers who've always wanted to know something about
options but were afraid to ask. I figure this will help make up for
my pseudo MIA status over the past couple of months <G>. Pardon any
mistakes I may have made.
I don't know your familiarity level with options, so I'll attempt
to explain the basics as they relate to call options. First, some
definitions.
Exercise: The process of converting an option to its underlying
stock.
Strike price: The stock price at which an option becomes exercisable.
In-the-money: An option which you can immediately exercise to buy
the underlying stock.
Out-of-the-money: An option whose underlying stock has yet to reach
the 'strike price'.
At-the-money: An option which is reaching the point where it can be
exercised.
Option price: The price you pay to buy or sell an option contract,
not including commission.
Time value: That component of option price which decays to
zero over time. It is the premium you pay for
the present and/or future right to exercise your
option once the strike price is reached.
Intrinsic value: That component of option price which reflects the
true value of your option at expiration.
Let's say you are interested in buying call options on IBM, and for
our purposes we'll say that the stock is trading at $60.00 per
share. It's early December. Opening up the paper and looking at
the options page for IBM might reveal something like this:
CASE 1: IBM last trade: $60.00, 2 weeks before expiration.
Contract Price Contract Price Contract Price
Dec 55 5½ Jan 55 6½ Mar 55 7¼
Dec 60 1 Jan 60 3 Mar 60 4
Dec 65 ¼ Jan 65 1½ Mar 65 3
CASE 2: IBM last trade: $60.00, at expiration.
Contract Price Contract Price Contract Price
Dec 55 5 Jan 55 5¼ Mar 55 6½
Dec 60 1/16 Jan 60 1½ Mar 60 3¼
Dec 65 1/16 Jan 65 3/4 Mar 65 2
CASE 3: IBM last trade: $65.00, at expiration.
Contract Price Contract Price Contract Price
Dec 55 10 Jan 55 10½ Mar 55 11
Dec 60 5 Jan 60 6 Mar 60 7
Dec 65 1/16 Jan 65 2 Mar 65 3
Again, these prices are totally hypothetical. Anyway, you can see
that you have 3 series of call options (a series covers those options
of like expiration months). The further away from the time of
expiration, the more expensive the option price (due to time value).
Now, if you wish to assume lots of risk, you'd be interested in buying
those option contracts which are furthest "out of the money" and closest
to expiration. In Case 1, that'd be the DEC 65s. They only cost
$0.25 per contract (1 contract is equivalent to 100 shares of
stock, so if you buy one contract you really pay $0.25 x 100 =
$25.00 + commission). However, what you're really buying is the
right to purchase IBM stock at $65/share any time between now and
the 3rd Friday of December, which is the date upon which the
December options expire. If IBM has not reached $65 or greater by
the time of expiration day, the options expire worthless.
Case 2: IBM stock is trading less than $65/share at the time of
December options expiration. You can see what has happened to the
price of the DEC 65 calls. It has fallen from ¼ to 1/16 (which is
really zero). You've lost 100% of your investment.
Case 3: Now, let's say you bought the DEC 65 calls for ¼ two weeks ago,
and it's now options expiration day. We'll say IBM is trading at $65
per share. Even though the stock reached your "strike price" of $65,
the options you hold are pretty much worthless. Why? Because no one
wants to pay a premium for the right (which expires today) to buy IBM
stock at $65 when the stock is trading at $65. There's no profit
in it. So, you've lost 100% of your investment once again.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Continued in next message >>>>>>>>>>>>>>