Debit Spread

This is when you sell an options contract and simultaneously buy one with a later expiration date and a higher or lower strike price. For example, if your sell to open the AAPL NOV 145.00 Call and then buy to open the AAPL DEC 150.00 Call , you have created a diagonal spread. See also:…

This is the difference between the current bid price and the current asking, or offering price. For example, if you see a quote that looks like this: 2.05 x 3.10 – what this means is that the bid is 2.05 and the ask is 3.10. Therefore the bid-ask thread is 1.05 i.e the difference between…

A range option is a European-style, cash-settled option that has a payout if the value of the underlying interest falls within a specific range of values (the range length) at expiration. As the underlying interest value increases throughout the range length, the amount of the payout (i.e., the cash settlement amount) of the range option…

This is when you buy a Put and sell another Put with a lower strike price. You would only use this spread if you are expecting the underlying stock to move up moderately because it will help you to benefit from the time decay. For example, let’s say you are anticipating a moderate rise in…

A Box Spread is simply a combination of two vertical spreads. These spreads are used by professional Options traders who are trying to take advantage of a situation where the cost of the spreads (both verticals) is less than what the verticals would be worth when they expire. They consider this to be a type…

This is when you own shares in a particular stock and then you sell Calls against it and then buy Puts. You would use this strategy when you think that the stock rice is a little overdone and you are expecting some downside. This has limited risk due to the long put option, but also…