Author: ivtrades

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 the idea that says that the price of the underlying asset will gravitate towards the point where the most options expire worthless. Some option traders will “trade around” or “trade off of” these levels by Selling Puts or Calls against it.

This is when you enter into a position by purchasing one part of the spread at a time rather than buying it all at once. Legging can improve the risk-reward of the trade if the underlying stock moves in the right direction. If not, it can reduce the potential loss.

This is the combination of a Bull Put Spread and a Bear Call Spread. The trade is created by selling a Put and buying a lower strike price Put and also selling a Call and buying a Call with a higher strike price. The short options have consecutive strike prices (short strangle).

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…

An Iron Butterfly is a trade that is created by putting on a Short Straddle (selling at the money puts and calls) and a Long Straddle (buying out of the money puts and calls). These types of trades limit the amount of money that you can make and it also limits the potential loss. But…

The Intrinsic Value is basically the value of an in-the-money option minus its time value. Intrinsic value is the current real tangible value of the options contract. The intrinsic value of a call option is calculated by subtracting the strike price of the Option from the underlying stock. For a put, intrinsic value is the…

This is basically the level of volatility reflected in the current options prices. Each options contract has a unique level of implied volatility that is computed using an options pricing model. The Implied Volatility (IV) is fluid and consistently changing. When the IV is high, it indicates that the option premiums are expensive. When the…

This is also known as the “actual volatility” and it measures the past price movement of an underlying asset. The historical information offers a comparison of what of what is happening with present volatility and what has happened in the past. You can also check out Implied Volatility (IV)

Front Month contracts are options contracts that have the least amount of time remaining before expiration. For example, on the 1st of August, the front month contract would the contract that expires in the Month of August. Similarly, on August 31st, the front month contract is the September contract is the front month contract because…