An “option” is a standardized contract originated by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) that is exchange-listed. A stock option is a legal right, but not obligation, to buy or sell shares of a specific stock for a fixed time and a fixed price. The fixed price gives the option holder the right to buy or sell at a fixed price known as a strike price or exercise price. The fixed time indicates that a option has a limited life for only a specific period of time then expires.
There are two types of options:
- Calls – the right, but not the obligation to buy the underlying stock
- Puts – the right but not the obligation to sell the underlying stock
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The underlying stock are the shares of stock that are subject to a stock option. The underlying stock can also be an exchange-traded fund, stock index and other tradeable securities that have options.
Each listed call or put option covers 100 shares of the underlying stock. Stock options expire on the Saturday following the 3rd Friday of each month. This 3rd Friday is the last day the options can be traded as the market is closed on Saturday. If the 3rd Friday is a holiday, then the last trading day will be the Thursday before. Recently, weekly options have been open on a limited number of stocks and ETFs. These weekly options are opened on each Thursday and expire on Friday of the following week. This gives the weekly option a time period of 8 days from opening to close.
There are many different calls and puts trading on each security that is optionable. Each call and put strike price of each expiration month is a separate option series. To be part of the same series, the options must be of the same type and have the same expiration, strike price and underlying security.
For investors, option equal income. I have always like to identify multiple streams of income from my portfolio. For many, they like to diversify using different stocks in different industries. Others like to add additional investments such as bonds and real estate to create diversification. There is nothing wrong with investors looking to create different types of income. In fact, I believe it may be as close to the holy grail as any concept in investing. I use multiple products and strategies to create multiple streams of income.
I am focused on generating consistent monthly income by selling options for premium using low risk strategies. You can see more investments at my website: getrichinvestments.com
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