Explaining Risks through Greeks

let's use SPY trading at $108.20 with 11 days to expiration....the following Greeks for a Long Nov 109-strike Call are :

Delta : +0.41
Gamma : +0.1
Theta : -0.06
Vega : +0.08

we move on to more specific Greek talk..

the above is a Bullish directional option position, which was established by paying a premium of ~$1.91 or $191 for 1 contract size.. this is evident from Delta, which is +ve 0.41.. this also represents the position's biggest risk..

Delta Risks
why is this +ve 0.41 delta, the biggest risk? for one primary reason; if SPY moves up or down 1point, this position gains or loses $41 (0.41 x 100)respectively. this is a 21.5% fluctuation in the P/L; a significant % by any measurement.

therefore, before anyone goes Buying single directional options, whether Long Calls or Long Puts, the trader MUST understand Delta risks... which is most prevalent for Long Calls and Puts.

Gamma Risks
a +ve gamma is always associated with any Long options. remember, +ve gamma has nothing to do with directional bias. this means, one can Long Call or Long Put, such positions will always yield a +ve gamma. as long as you BUY an option, you will be +ve gamma; and conversely, as soon as you are Short(sell or write) an option, you will be -ve gamma.

gamma is best explained vis-a-vis delta. they are a pair of Siamese twins...because delta of an option position changes ONLY because gamma changes it. if gamma is 0(zero), no amount of movement of the underlying will change the delta value of that option !!!

in this example above, this Long SPY 109 Call assumes a +ve 0.1 gamma risk. how so? recall that gamma changes delta. gamma either makes a delta bigger or smaller. in this example, if SPY moves up 1 point, this Long 109 Call delta becomes +ve 0.51 (0.41 + 0.1) and if SPY drops by 1 point, the same Call option value will drop by +0.31 (0.41 - 0.1). of cos, this is a simplified calculation, becos gamma itself changes as SPY moves about. but we will keep it simpler here.

hence, if SPY moves up by 1 point, gamma helps the 109Call value tremendously by pumping the delta value up by ~24%(from 0.41 to 0.51),making this an even greater delta risk play. similarly, if SPY drops by 1 point, the option value will drop by ~23%..

therefore, if you are very bullish and decide to purchase a Long Call option, you want a large enough +ve gamma, to help you increase your +ve delta. BUT you had better be right on your directional bias, because if you were wrong, a large +gamma can also quickly erode your +ve delta of your Long Call option position, making it less sensitive of subsequent upward price movement of the underlying.

this, in a gist, is what gamma risks is all about...

Theta Risks

Theta is defined as the Rate of "Decay" of any option's extrinsic premium.

A side note on option premium. All options value are composed of intrinsic and extrinsic values. For example, recall that this Long SPY Nov 109 Call is valued at $1.91, when SPY was trading at $108.20. This is an OTM Call. This $1.91, the value of this Call option, consists of $0 Intrinsic value and $1.91 of Extrinsic value.

All OTM options contain only extrinsic values. ONLY ITM options contain intrinsic values.

Thus, when you purchase this 11days to expiration Long SPY Nov 109 Call, and paid $1.91, all of this is "time" fee. This is "fair" because option is a leveraged instrument, allowing you to gain control of 100 SPY shares at a fraction of the cost of actually buying SPY shares. The tradeoff, is that you pay such extrinsic value, build into the SPY options. Option trading epitomizes the saying "There ain't never a free lunch in this world !!".

Theta affects ONLY the option extrinsic value, NEVER the intrinsic value. In this example, there is $191 worth of premium to be decayed.

So, as with the above example, with a -ve 0.06 Theta, with every passing day, this option decays by $6 (0.06 x 100). You would have noticed an anomaly by now. Given that this option has only 11 days to expiration, doesn't it mean that there is only $66 ( $6 x 11 days) of decay, but with an extrinsic value of $191. So how is this possible? This is possible, because Theta does not decay in a Linear fashion. In fact, the rate of decay (aka Theta) becomes larger as time to expiration nears. It accelerates very aggressively in the last days and last moments of the option's life !!!

A very important lesson about Theta is this...

Supposing you did purchase this Long SPY Nov 109 Call and paid $1.91 and on the final day of expiration, SPY settles at $110. One would imagine making a profit from this position. This cannot be further from the truth. In fact, if SPY had ended at $110 at expiration day, this position would make a loss. By how much?

Value of 109 Call option on expiration, with SPY trade close at $110, will have a value of exactly $1. That Long SPY Nov 109 Call can be exercised into 100 shares of SPY shares at $109 and immediately be sold off in the open market for $110, profiting $1. Of cos, this Call option will be valued at $1 exactly, no more, no less..."No free lunch mantra, remember"....

So, with this SPY Call worthy of $1, and yet you paid $1.91 for it 11 days ago...tell me, how could be be a profitable trade? It is a bigger-than-burger-king-big-whopper loss of 48% !!!

But wait...just when you think this is bad...I've got worse news...Supposing SPY on expiration day closed off at $109, that Long SPY Nov 109 Call would be worth $0 !!! All of that $191 paid for that Long Call option, miraculously vanished into thin air. Talk about frustration! You've got your market direction right, no doubt about that. You entered the trade when SPY was $108.20, and 11 days later, SPY did rise to $109, and yet, you lost 100% of your capital on this trade. Ain't this a sucker trade !! Bitch it all on -ve Theta.

Now, I believe Theta has your attention and respect (sing that song...R-E-S-P-E-C-T by Donna Summers) .......this is what Theta risks is all about.... in this case, contrary to popular saying, time is not money...instead, time is your foe, when you are -ve Theta...