Straddle Strategies in Option Trading
The straddle strategy is an option strategy that's based on buying both a call and put of a stock. Note that there are various forms of straddles, but we will only be covering the basic straddle strategy. To initiate a Straddle, we would buy a Call and Put of a stock with the same expiration date and strike price. For example, we would initiate a Straddle for company ABC by buying a June $20 Call as well as a June $20 Put. Now why would we want to buy both a Call and a Put? Calls are for when you expect the stock to go up, and Puts are for when you expect the stock to go down, right? In an ideal world, we would like to be able to clearly predict the direction of a stock. However, in the real world, it's quite difficult. On the other hand, it's relatively easier to predict whether a stock is going to move (without knowing whether the move is up or down). One method of predicting volatility is by using the Technical Indicator called Bollinger Bands. For example, you know that ABC's annual report is coming out this week, but do not know whether they will exceed expectations or not. You could assume that the stock price will be quite volatile, but since you don't know the news in the annual report, you wouldn't have a clue which direction the stock will move. In cases like this, a Straddle strategy would be good to adopt. If the price of the stock shoots up, your Call will be way In-The-Money, and your Put will be worthless. If the price plummets, your Put will be way In-The-Money, and your Call will be worthless. This is safer than buying either just a Call or just a Put. If you just bought a one-sided option, and the price goes the wrong way, you're looking at possibly losing your entire premium investment. In the case of Straddles, you will be safe either way, though you are spending more initially since you have to pay the premiums of both the Call and the Put. Let's look at a numerical example: For stock XYZ, let's imagine the share price is now sitting at $63. There is news that a legal suit against XYZ will conclude tomorrow. No matter the result of the suit, you know that there will be volatility. If they win, the price will jump. If they lose, the price will plummet. So we decide to initiate a Straddle strategy on the XYZ stock. We decide to buy a $65 Call and a $65 Put on XYZ, $65 being the closest strike price to the current stock price of $63. The premium for the Call (which is $2 Out-Of-The-Money) is $0.75, and the premium for the Put (which is $2 In-The-Money) is $3.00. So our total initial investment is the sum of both premiums, which is $3.75. Fast forward 2 days. XYZ won the legal battle! Investors are more confident of the stock and the price jumps to $72. The $65 Call is now $7 In-The-Money and its premium is now $8.00. The $65 Put is now Way-Out-Of-The-Money and its premium is now $0.25. If we close out both positions and sell both options, we would cash in $8.00 + $0.25 = $8.25. That's a profit of $4.50 on our initial $3.75 investment! Of course, we could have just bought a basic Call option and earned a greater profit. But we didn't know which direction the stock price would go. If XYZ lost the legal battle, the price could have dropped $10, making our Call worthless and causing us to lose our entire investment. A Straddle strategy is more conservative and will profit whether the stock goes up or down. If Straddles are so good, why doesn't everybody use them for every investment? It fails when the stock price doesn't move. If the price of the stock hovers around the initial price, both the Call and the Put will not be that much In-The-Money. Furthermore, the closer it is to the expiration date, the cheaper premiums are. Option premiums have a Time Value associated with them. So an option expiring this month will have a cheaper premium than an option with the same strike price expiring next year. So in the case where the stock price doesn't move, the premiums of both the Call and Put will slowly decay, and we could end up losing a large percentage of our investment. The bottom line is: for a Straddle strategy to be profitable, there has to be volatility, and a marked movement in the stock price. A more advanced investor can tweak Straddles to create many variations. They can buy different amounts of Calls and Puts with different Strike Prices or Expiration Dates, modifying the Straddles to suit their individual strategies and risk tolerance. Steven is the webmaster of http://www.option-trading-guide.com If you would like to learn more about Option Trading or Technical Analysis, do visit for various strategies and resources to help your stock market investments.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Focus Your Investments on the Long Term
"All human power is a compound of time and patience!"
Honore de Balzac (1799 - 1850)
Are You An Investment Dummy Like Me?
I am good at a few things. I can certainly market well and I consult with others about how to bring more attention to their products and services on the internet for a living.
Understanding The Real Rate of Return!
There is one indicator more than any other which determines the health of an economy and it is the Real Rate of Return.
Furthermore this is the simplest of all indicators to understand because it determines the safety of assets. Next time you hear the TALKING HEADS discussing the nuances of the markets, filter what they say through your own understanding of the Real Rate of Return.
Is Starting A Business For Me? What To Consider Before Starting A Business
Do you have the right temperament?
A Gadfly On A Dinosaurs Butt, Or The Hood-winking Of The American Investor
Have you ever noticed how some words in the English language are so perfectly named for what they describe? And how some words seem to be, I guess you could say, backwards? For instance, the word sunflower! How wonderfully aptly named is the sunflower, that beautiful yellow flower that follows the sun from sunrise to sunset.
Well Managed Investing Risks Bring Rewards!
"Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing!" Warren Buffett (1930 - )
Retire Dollar Smart
Jim Miller is a registered investment advisor. This means that he is not beholden to a particular brokerage or financial institution. As such, he does not charge monthly fees for "money-managing"; instead, through a consultation fee he is free to give whatever advice will best benefit his clients; he doesn't have to serve them whatever "flavor of the month" the brokerage or financial institution happens to like at that point in time. His investment advice in his book, "Retire Dollar Smart," is clear and filled with common sense.
Bankers in Denial
Denial is a ubiquitous psychological defense mechanism. It involves the repression of bad news, unpleasant information, and anxiety-inducing experiences. Judging by the German press, the country is in a state of denial regarding the waning health of its economy and the dwindling fortunes of its financial system.
Investing and Understanding What You Buy
"There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action!"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
How to Terror-Proof Your Money
"To drift is to be in hell, to be in heaven is to steer." -George
Bernard Shaw
5 Ways To Protect Your Bond Portfolio From Rising Interest Rates
The Federal Reserve recently raised its target federal funds rate for the first time since March 2000. This could be just the tip of the iceberg, though, as many experts believe rising inflation and a strengthening economy will spur continued rate hikes for the foreseeable future.
Evaluating A Money Manager
Scams and frauds are designed to take your money through false promises and phony claims. Money management is supposedly designed to increase your net worth. Sometimes these two worlds meet and the results are not in your favor, i.e., you have a considerable decrease in net worth.
How to Use Annual Report
There are many steps in calculating the fair value of a company. However, before we even do that, it is imperative to know how a company earns its profit. Does it do that by selling to consumers? licensing its technology to other companies? or extracting natural resources from the ground?
Raising Capital Using a Public Company
Going public in this manner is ideal for companies that may not be large enough to attract an underwriter for an IPO and those that don't need to raise capital immediately. They want to go public because of the many benefits that being a public company offers such as increased valuation, using public stock as currency to acquire other companies and assets, liquidity, prestige and to reduce the need for expensive venture capital and other financing sources. It also makes it easier to raise capital since once you become public it gives you credibility and a benchmark trading price to raise capital against.
The American Age of Inflation is Over
"The American Age of Inflation is finished." So says economist Robert Samuelson in his December 2nd Washington Post column.
Mutual Fund Selection Made Simple By Indexing!
Non-indexed mutual funds try to keep it secret that actively managed mutual very funds rarely do better stock market indexes. The higher fees of the managed funds really make it hard for these funds to out compete indexed funds. Smart financial journalists occasionally rat out fund managers for not educating the public in this regard. When this happens the mutual fund managers make a feeble attempt at self defense by pointing to something called the 5% rule.
Moving Average Convergence Divergence ( MACD ) Charts
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence charts, or MACD charts for short, are a technical indicator that is derived from the more simple moving average.
Your Worst Enemy To Successful Investing - The Media
How do you make your investment decisions and where do you get your information? If you're like most of the people I know, you look to the experts.
Investing Offshore for Retirement
As an expatriate you are in a privileged savings and investing position. Make the most of the options available to you while you can, consider investing offshore for your retirement.
Gold; What Type of Gold to Buy
Jewelry
|
