Essential Options Trading Guide

Using Long Calls

As the name indicates, going long on a call involves buying call options, betting that the price of the underlying asset will increase with time. For example, suppose a trader purchases a contract with 100 call options for a stock that’s currently trading at $10. Each option is priced at $2. Therefore, the total investment in the contract is $200. The trader will recoup her costs when the stock’s price reaches $12.

Thereafter, the stock’s gains are profits for her. There are no upper bounds on the stock’s price, and it can go all the way up to $100,000 or even further. A $1 increase in the stock’s price doubles the trader’s profits because each option is worth $2. Therefore, a long call promises unlimited gains. If the stock goes in the opposite price direction (i.e., its price goes down instead of up), then the options expire worthless and the trader loses only $200. Long calls are useful strategies for investors when they are reasonably certain a given stock’s price will increase.    

Writing Covered Calls

In a short call, the trader is on the opposite side of the trade (i.e., they sell a call option as opposed to buying one), betting that the price of a stock will decrease in a certain time frame. Because it is a naked call, a short call can have unlimited gains because if the price goes the trader’s way, then they could rake in money from call buyers.

But writing a call without owning actual stock can also mean significant losses for the trader because, if the price doesn’t go in the planned direction, then they would have to spend a considerable sum to purchase and deliver the stock at inflated prices.

A covered call limits their losses. In a covered call, the trader already owns the underlying asset. Therefore, they don’t need to purchase the asset if its price goes in the opposite direction. Thus, a covered call limits losses and gains because the maximum profit is limited to the amount of premiums collected. Covered calls writers can buy back the options when they are close to in the money. Experienced traders use covered calls to generate income from their stock holdings and balance out tax gains made from other trades.      

Long Puts

A long put is similar to a long call except that the trader will buy puts, betting that the underlying stock’s price will decrease. Suppose a trader purchases a one 10-strike put option (representing the right to sell 100 shares at $10) for a stock trading at $20. Each option is priced at a premium of $2. Therefore, the total investment in the contract is $200. The trader will recoup those costs when the stock’s price falls to $8 ($10 strike – $2 premium).

Thereafter, the stock’s losses mean profits for the trader. But these profits are capped because the stock’s price cannot fall below zero. The losses are also capped because the trader can let the options expire worthless if prices move in the opposite direction. Therefore, the maximum losses that the trader will experience are limited to the premium amounts paid. Long puts are useful for investors when they are reasonably certain that a stock’s price will move in their desired direction.

Short Puts

In a short put, the trader will write an option betting on a price increase and sell it to buyers. In this case, the maximum gains for a trader are limited to the premium amount collected. However, the maximum losses can be unlimited because she will have to buy the underlying asset to fulfill her obligations if buyers decide to exercise their option.

Despite the prospect of unlimited losses, a short put can be a useful strategy if the trader is reasonably certain that the price will increase. The trader can buy back the option when its price is close to being in the money and generates income through the premium collected.

Combinations

The simplest options position is a long call (or put) by itself. This position profits if the price of the underlying rises (falls), and your downside is limited to the loss of the option premium spent.

If you simultaneously buy a call and put option with the same strike and expiration, you’ve created a straddle. This position pays off if the underlying price rises or falls dramatically; however, if the price remains relatively stable, you lose premium on both the call and the put. You would enter this strategy if you expect a large move in the stock but are not sure in which direction.

Basically, you need the stock to have a move outside of a range. A similar strategy betting on an outsized move in the securities when you expect high volatility (uncertainty) is to buy a call and buy a put with different strikes and the same expiration—known as a strangle. A strangle requires larger price moves in either direction to profit but is also less expensive than a straddle.

On the other hand, being short a straddle or a strangle (selling both options) would profit from a market that doesn’t move much.

Spreads

Spreads use two or more options positions of the same class. They combine having a market opinion (speculation) with limiting losses (hedging). Spreads often limit potential upside as well. Yet these strategies can still be desirable since they usually cost less when compared to a single options leg. There are many types of spreads and variations on each. Here, we just discuss some of the basics.

Vertical spreads involve selling one option to buy another. Generally, the second option is the same type and same expiration but a different strike. A bull call spread, or bull call vertical spread, is created by buying a call and simultaneously selling another call with a higher strike price and the same expiration. The spread is profitable if the underlying asset increases in price, but the upside is limited due to the short-call strike. The benefit, however, is that selling the higher strike call reduces the cost of buying the lower one. Similarly, a bear put spread, or bear put vertical spread, involves buying a put and selling a second put with a lower strike and the same expiration. If you buy and sell options with different expirations, it is known as a calendar spread or time spread.

A butterfly spread consists of options at three strikes, equally spaced apart, wherein all options are of the same type (either all calls or all puts) and have the same expiration. In a long butterfly, the middle strike option is sold and the outside strikes are bought in a ratio of 1:2:1 (buy one, sell two, buy one). If this ratio does not hold, it is no longer a butterfly. The outside strikes are commonly referred to as the wings of the butterfly, and the inside strike as the body. The value of a butterfly can never fall below zero. Closely related to the butterfly is the condor—the difference is that the middle options are not at the same strike price.

Synthetics

Combinations are trades constructed with both a call and a put. There is a special type of combination known as a “synthetic.” The point of a synthetic is to create an options position that behaves like an underlying asset but without actually controlling the asset. Why not just buy the stock? Maybe some legal or regulatory reason restricts you from owning it. But you may be allowed to create a synthetic position using options. For instance, if you buy an equal amount of calls as you sell puts at the same strike and expiration, you have created a synthetic long position in the underlying.

Boxes are another example of using options in this way to create a synthetic loan, an options spread that effectively behave like a zero-coupon bond until it expires.

American vs. European Options

American options can be exercised at any time between the date of purchase and the expiration date. European options are different from American options in that they can only be exercised at the end of their lives on their expiration date.

The distinction between American and European options has nothing to do with geography, only with early exercise. Many options on stock indexes are of the European type. Because the right to exercise early has some value, an American option typically carries a higher premium than an otherwise identical European option. This is because the early exercise feature is desirable and commands a premium.

There are also exotic options, which are exotic because there might be a variation in the payoff profiles from the plain vanilla options. Or they can become totally different products altogether with “optionality” embedded in them. For example, binary options have a simple payoff structure that is determined if the payoff event happens regardless of the degree.

Other types of exotic options include knock-out, knock-in, barrier options, lookback options, Asian options, and Bermuda options. Again, exotic options are typically for professional derivatives traders.

Short-Term Options vs. Long-Term Options

Options can also be categorized by their duration. Short-term options are those that generally expire within a year. Long-term options with expirations greater than a year are classified as long-term equity anticipation securities, or LEAPs. LEAPs are identical to regular options except that they have longer durations.