Saturday, January 28, 2006

Options Profit Analyzer

Options Profit Analyzer: "Options allow investors the right to buy or sell a stock at a certain price. Although they are the most risky investment vehicles available, with the potential to lose all of your capital, they can provide great returns on small investments. An option to buy a stock at a certain price is a 'call', while an option to sell a stock at a certain price is a 'put'. The specified price is the 'strike price'. Options expire on the third Friday of each month. At this time, the owner of the option can excercise the option's right or it will expire worthless. People invest in options to gain the underlying right, or they speculate on the value of the option increasing before the option expires. The value of the option depends on the price of the underlying stock, the time remaining before expiration, and market psychology. The 'intrinsic value' of the option is price difference between the strike price and the underlying stock's price. An option to buy a stock at $40 when the stock is trading at $45 would have an intrinsic price value of $5. The 'premium' of the option is the price above its intrinsic value. The premium is directly related to the time remaining before expiration. An option is worth more with plenty of time before expiration, and its premium decreases as the option expiration date approaches. Market psychology can also increase the premium of an option. Stocks with bullish sentiment can carry higher premiums on call options at any price above the current stock's price. Premiums are a market driven value.
The significant risk of options is that they can become worthless if they expire 'out of the money'. An option to buy a stock at $50 when the stock is trading at $45 would be worthless upon expiration. All of an initial investment can be lost.
Options Profit Analyzer is a calculator based only on the option's intrinsic value. It does not factor in premium costs since premium is determined by the people of the market. The profit is based on a person buying an option at low price and selling it at a higher price before the option expires. Options are sold in contracts, with each contract representing 100 options. Here's how the Options Profit Analyzer works. This calculator can calculate for puts and calls. To calculate profits for a call option, place a higher expected stock price than the strike price. To calculate profits for a put option, place a lower expected stock price than the strike price. "

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