1、Chapter 8 How to Trade the Futures OptionsFUTURES OPTIONS TRADING A futures option gives the buyer of the option the right to buy or sell the underlying futures contract at a given price at some time in the future,regardless of what the actual price may be at that time.FUTURES OPTIONS TRADINGnA put
2、option conveys the right to sell the underlying option.ncall option conveys the right to buy the underlying option.An out-of-the-money option has no intrinsic value.A second factor that adds value to an option is time.A third factor contributing to the value of an option is the volatility of the mar
3、ket.FUTURES OPTIONS TRADING For an option buyer,there is no margin cost per se;there is only the cost of the premium plus commission costs.Margin in Options Trading The option seller,or writer,has no discretionary choices available once the option is sold and the premium has been received.All of the
4、 decision-making power lies with the buyer,who has three choices.Exit Alternatives The most popular and popularized advantage is that an option has limited and known risk.A second advantage of options trading offers is leverage.A third advantage of options trading is staying power.Advantages of Opti
5、ons Trading Although the loss exposure is limited and known,a loss is still a loss,and several limited losses in a row add up to a large loss.Disadvantages of Options TradingNUTS AND BOLTS The option you bought on the house in the preceding example is referred to as a call.A call confers the right t
6、o buy an asset within a certain period of time at an agreed price.December T-Bond 90 CallFutures contractStriking priceKind of optionNUTS AND BOLTS A newspaper price table for a days trading in futures options MORE NUTS AND BOLTSnPremiumnExpiration datenExercise(striking)price.Option Value An option
7、 has no practical value.You cant live in it or wear it to stay warm on a cold day.An option is worth what someone else will give you for it.Option ValueOption ValueBuying Calls Why would a speculator choose an option over an outright long futures position in this situation?The most important reason
8、is limited risk.Gold futures advance to 404.00Gold FuturesBuy at 380.00Sell at 404.00 +24.00Gold 380 Call OptionBuy at 9.00Sell at 31.00 +22.00Buying Calls2.Gold futures decline to 348.00Gold FuturesBuy at 380.00Sell at 348.00 -32.00Gold 380 Call OptionBuy at 9.00Expires worthless -9.00Buying CallsG
9、old futures stay to 380.00Gold FuturesBuy at 380.00Sell at 380.00 0.00Gold 380 Call OptionBuy at 9.00Expires worthless -9.00Buying CallsExampleThe question now is,which call option do you buy?ExampleExampleSelling Options Selling options short is an entirely different matter from buying them.If you
10、sell an option short and do not own the underlying futures position,the sale is considered to be“uncovered.”Covered Sale If you own the underlying futures positionfor example,if you sell a silver call short and have a long position in silver futuresthe sale is considered to be“covered.”Available sil
11、ver options and their premiums are:Single Strategy The goal is to earn most or all of the option premium.The futures position is taken to preclude the risk of being short an uncovered option.Long Silver Futures/Short Silver Call Futures Option Buy September silver at$4.45 July 2 Sell September silve
12、r 450 call for 29.0 centsSell September silver at$4.45 August 3 Buy September silver 450 call for 4.5$0 +24.5 centsExampleLong Silver Futures/Short Silver Call Futures Option Buy September silver at$4.45 July 2 Sell September silver 450 call for 29.0 centsSell September silver at$4.90 July 21 Buy September silver 450 call at 44.0 +$.45 -15.0 centsLong Silver Futures/Short Silver Call Futures Option Buy September silver at$4.45 July 2 Sell September silver 450 call for 29.0 centsSell September silver at$4.50 July 22 Call is exercised +$.05 +29.0 cents
