What Is The Options Expiration Cycle?

A covered call is executed when you buy the underlying stock/shares and then sell Calls against it. The trade is considered covered because the shares will cover what is now a short Call position. So this means the shorting/sale of the Calls was not “naked”. This method can be used to generate income using stock…

This is basically a big change in Implied Volatility [IV]. IV gaps higher when the market expects the underlying Stock/ETF to make a big move in the short term. IV can gap lower when an important event, like an earnings report, has passed. The big gap up in the IV can cause the premium of…

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…

This is basically the amount of intrinsic value that an options contract has. In other words, it is the relationship between the strike price of the option and the price of the underlying asset. See at-the-money and Deep in-the-money.

This is also known as a Crossed Trade and it is basically a transaction/trade that is done from one broker to another ( broker to broker) rather than in the open market place. See Also Option Conversion

This is an options contract, put or call, that can be exercised at any time prior to expiration. Stock, exchange-traded funds, and some index options also settle American-style. The alternative is the European Style Option which can only be exercised at expiration.