Factors That Impact Option Prices

Factors That Impact Option Prices - Option TradingThese classes are all based on the book Trading and Pricing Financial Derivatives, available on Amazon at this link. https://amzn.to/2WIoAL0 Check out our website http://www.onfinance.org/Follow Patrick on twitter here: https://twitter.com/PatrickEBoyleFactors Impacting Stock Options PricesThe main factors impacting the premium price of stock options are:• The current stock price S0• Strike price agreed on K• Time to maturity/expiration T• Volatility of the stock price • Risk-free interest rate r• Dividends expected during option lifeThe Impact of Spot Prices on Option PricesThe price of the underlying is the key factor that determines the premium price of an option. The options payoff is the difference between the spot price and the strike price. The price of an option premium for a given strike price will change based on the price of the underlying stock.Long call options are more valuable when the underlying spot price increases.Long put options become more valuable when the underlying spot price decreases.Strike PriceThe strike price is the contracted price that will be exchanged in the event of the exercise of the option by the option buyer. Hence strike price plays a vital role in determining the premium price of an option. The exercise price will remain the same throughout the life of an option contract and will not undergo any change, with the earlier-noted exceptions of relatively rare corporate actions such as special dividend announcements and stock splits. Time to Maturity/ExpirationWith more time, there is more uncertainty. The more time to expiration, the greater the chance that there will be fluctuation in the price of the underlying to the advantage of one of the parties to the contract. Thus, the greater the time, the higher the time value of the option. An option’s premium price is directly related to the time remaining till expiration. The buyer of an option stands to gain if the option contract finishes in the money. If there is more time to expiration, the chance of the option ending in the money is higher. As the time to expiration of an options contract passes, the value of the option erodes.If an investor buys an option that is one year away from expiration, it will obviously be more expensive than a similar option that is only five minutes away from expiration. All options exhibit time decay and are wasting assets.The Volatility of the Stock PriceThe volatility of a stock price is a measure of how uncertain we are about future stock price movements. The standard deviation of the historical price movements of the underlying asset over a defined period of time is typically used to measure the volatility of that asset. The higher the volatility is, the more likely it is that an asset’s price will move up or down a lot. Thus, an option on a volatile asset is worth more than an option on an asset with little volatility. If a market becomes more volatile, the premium for option contracts, both puts and calls, would go up. Someone who bought options earlier would benefit if market volatility increases to the detriment of the person who sold the options to them.Interest RatesThe cost of carry depends on the risk-free rate of interest in the market concerned. The higher the interest rate, the higher the call option price and lower the put option price. The lower the interest rate, the lower the call option price and higher the put option price. Higher interest rates have two impacts on stock options valuations:1. Higher expected return on stock2. The present value of future cash flows of an option decreaseIf all else is kept equal, an increase in interest rates increases call prices and decreases put prices.Expected DividendsStock dividends are paid only to the holder of the underlying security on the rec Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices