Option time value

In finance, the time value (TV) (extrinsic or instrumental value) of an option is the premium a rational investor would pay over its current exercise value (intrinsic value), based on the probability it will increase in value before expiry. For an American option this value is always greater than zero in a fair market, thus an option is always worth more than its current exercise value. As an option can be thought of as 'price insurance' (e.g., an airline insuring against unexpected soaring fuel costs caused by a hurricane), TV can be thought of as the risk premium the option seller charges the buyer—the higher the expected risk (volatility time), the higher the premium. Conversely, TV can be thought of as the price an investor is willing to pay for potential upside. Time value decays to zero at expiration, with a general rule that it will lose of its value during the first half of its life and in the second half. As an option moves closer to expiry, moving its price requires an increasingly larger move in the price of the underlying security. The intrinsic value (IV) of an option is the value of exercising it now. If the price of the underlying stock is above a call option strike price, the option has a positive monetary value, and is referred to as being in-the-money. If the underlying stock is priced cheaper than the call option's strike price, the call option is referred to as being out-of-the-money. If an option is out-of-the-money at expiration, its holder simply abandons the option and it expires worthless. Hence, a purchased option can never have a negative value. This is because a rational investor would choose to buy the underlying stock at the market price rather than exercise an out-of-the-money call option to buy the same stock at a higher-than-market price. For the same reasons, a put option is in-the-money if it allows the purchase of the underlying at a market price below the strike price of the put option. A put option is out-of-the-money if the underlying's spot price is higher than the strike price.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related publications (13)

Related units (1)

Related concepts (16)

Related courses (2)

Related lectures (25)

Value Estimation versus Effort Mobilization: A General Dissociation between Ventromedial and Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex

Nicolas Clairis

Deciding on a course of action requires both an accurate estimation of option values and the right amount of effort invested in deliberation to reach suf fi cient con fi dence in the fi nal choice. In a previous study, we have provided evidence, across a s ...

Soc Neuroscience2024

Oxidation of organic micropollutant surrogate functional groups with peracetic acid activated by aqueous Co(II), Cu(II), or Ag(I) and geopolymer-supported Co(II)

Urs von Gunten

Peracetic acid (PAA) in combination with transition metals has recently gained increasing attention for organic micropollutant abatement. In this study, aqueous Co(II), Cu(II), and Ag(I) were compared for their capacity to activate PAA. Co(II) outperformed ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022

Dissecting the role of biliary epithelial cells during non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progression

Ece Yildiz

The liver is the largest solid organ and the only one capable of using regenerative mechanisms to recover its mass fully. Although liver regeneration from acute injuries has been effective and extensively studied, chronic liver damage has adverse effects o ...

EPFL2022

Foundations of Financial Economics MGT-301: Foundations in financial economics

Covers financial economics basics, including time value of money, risk/return tradeoff, and capital structure, preparing students for real-world financial decision-making.

Foundations of Financial: Understanding Finance Basics MGT-301: Foundations in financial economics

Covers the fundamental concepts of finance, including cash flows, investment evaluation, and funding sources.

Understanding Risk and Uncertainty ENV-471: Environmental economics

Explores risk, uncertainty, subjective probabilities, and decision-making under different scenarios.

FIN-404: Derivatives

The objective of this course is to provide a detailed coverage of the standard models for the valuation and hedging of derivatives products such as European options, American options, forward contract

MGT-482: Principles of finance

The course provides a market-oriented framework for analyzing the major financial decisions made by firms. It provides an introduction to valuation techniques, investment decisions, asset valuation, f

Option (finance)

In finance, an option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the holder, the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date, depending on the style of the option. Options are typically acquired by purchase, as a form of compensation, or as part of a complex financial transaction.

Strike price

In finance, the strike price (or exercise price) of an option is a fixed price at which the owner of the option can buy (in the case of a call), or sell (in the case of a put), the underlying security or commodity. The strike price may be set by reference to the spot price, which is the market price of the underlying security or commodity on the day an option is taken out. Alternatively, the strike price may be fixed at a discount or premium. The strike price is a key variable in a derivatives contract between two parties.

Call option

In finance, a call option, often simply labeled a "call", is a contract between the buyer and the seller of the call option to exchange a security at a set price. The buyer of the call option has the right, but not the obligation, to buy an agreed quantity of a particular commodity or financial instrument (the underlying) from the seller of the option at or before a certain time (the expiration date) for a certain price (the strike price). This effectively gives the owner a long position in the given asset.