
Start Here
Platform

Tour
Bots 101How it worksLive demo
Tools
Automated tradingOptions backtestingWatchlist scannerPrivate community
Use cases
New investorsStock tradersActive tradersPassive investorsSwing tradersAlgorithmic traders

Templates
By trade type
Stock trading botsOptions trading bots
By strategy type
Bullish options strategiesNeutral options strategiesBearish options strategiesHedging strategies
By style
Active and high frequency botsEvent-based botsTrend trading botsMomentum trading botsStatistic and probability-based botsTechnical analysis botsEarnings strategy bots

Integrations

Pricing
Education

Courses
Overview
By experience
Beginner
What is an options contract?Stock trading vs. options tradingOptions contract specificsCall vs. put options basicsBuying options vs. selling optionsOptions profit and loss diagramsOptions pricing tablesOption moneyness (ITM, OTM, and ATM)Options pricing and the "Greeks"Options expiration and assignmentWhat's our "edge" trading options?Single vs. multi-leg options strategiesSmall account options strategies
Intermediate
Fearless, confident options tradingHistorical volatility vs. implied volatilityPredicting market movesTrade size and capital reservesPortfolio balance and beta weightingHow to choose the best options strategyHow far out to place trades?Strike price anchoring with probabilitiesTips on getting your trades filledAdvanced and contingent orders7 step options trade entry checklist
Advanced
Developing a daily trading routineHow to avoid "Black Swan" eventsAdjusting and hedging option tradesExiting options trades automaticallyOptions strategies we don't adjust (and why)Big picture adjustment strategyWhen to adjust or notAdjusting straddles and stranglesAdjusting credit spreads, iron condors, and calendarsSmarter stop-loss ordersBuilding a diversified options portfolioRolling options trades for duration and premiumOptions expiration week position checklistDealing with stock assignment and dividendsHow to free up trading margin and cash
By subject
Options basics
Why options vs. stocks?What is an options contract?Smart use of leverageOption strike priceOption premiumOption expirationOption contract multiplierProfit and loss diagramsLong call option explainedShort call option explainedLong put option explainedShort put option explainedATM, ITM, and OTM optionsCash vs. margin basicsHigh probability trading definedHow to buy a call optionHow to buy a put optionSingle-leg vs. multi-legWhat is the VIX?Is fundamental analysis dead?
Entering and exiting trades
Game of numbers7 step entry checklistStrong liquidity examplesPicking the next directionScanning for tradesOption pricing table basicsSetting up your trade tabPinning your probability of profitUsing delta for probabilitiesBuy to open vs sell to openBuy to close vs sell to closeMarket, limit, stop loss orders5 types of contingent ordersLimit ordersMarket ordersLimit on close ordersMarket on close ordersAdvanced contingent ordersTaking profits before expirationMechanics of rollingConsider future events
Options expiration
Options expiration explainedWhat is the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)?Physical vs. cash settlement optionsAmerican vs. European style optionsWeekly options expirationWeekly expiration tags/codesOptions assignment processOptions exercise processTrading timeline (duration)
Bullish options strategies
Bull put spreadBull call spreadLong callShort putBull call backspreadPut broken wing butterflyCall calendar spreadPut diagonal spreadCustom naked putCovered callSynthetic long stock
Neutral options strategies
Short straddleLong straddleIron condorsShort strangleLong strangleIron butterflyUnbalanced iron condors
Bearish options strategies
Bear call spreadBear put spreadLong putShort callBear put backspreadCall broken wing butterflyPut calendar spreadCall diagonal spreadCustom naked callCovered putSynthetic short stock
Portfolio managmeent
No guaranteed tradesDon't do something, sit thereAccount size adjustmentsAvoiding stock market overloadStocks, indexes, & ETFsMonitoring positionsCreating automatic alertsIndividual stock betaPortfolio betaBeta weighting your portfolioUncorrelated industries/sectorsSystematic vs. unsystematic riskEfficient portfolio frontierLimiting undefined risk tradesEconomic calendarConcept of legging
Options pricing and volatility
How to find option price quotesUnderstanding the mathIV vs. IV percentileProbability of profit vs. probability of touchOption probability curveBid-ask spread definedIV expected vs. actual moveThe "Greeks"Fatal pricing errorsInverse ETFsOptions parity
Adjusting trades
#1 adjustment for any tradeWhen to adjust a tradeSingle options trade vs. overall portfolioLeveraging the analyze tabCall spread adjustmentsPut spread adjustmentsShort strangle adjustmentsIron condor adjustmentsShort straddle adjustmentsCalendar spread adjustmentsDebit spread adjustmentsButterfly adjustmentsUsing stop lossesDelta hedgingRolling positionsPairs hedging

Strategies
Long callLong putShort callShort putCovered callCovered putProtective putCollar strategyLEAPSBull call debit spreadBear call credit spreadBull put credit spreadBear put debit spreadLong straddleShort straddleLong strangleShort strangleCall calendar spreadPut calendar spreadIron condorReverse iron condorIron butterflyReverse iron butterflyCall butterflyPut butterflyStrapCall diagonal spreadPut diagonal spreadCall ratio spreadPut ratio spreadCall backspreadPut backspreadLong box spreadShort box spreadReversalStock repair

Topics
OverviewAsset allocationAutomated tradingBehavioral financeBrokersCandlestick patternsChart patternsDividendsEconomic indicatorsEquity investmentsExercise & assignmentFinancial analysisFinancial historyFinancial marketsFinancial modelingFinancial theoriesFundamental analysisFuturesInvestment accountsInvestment taxesInvestor biasesMarket holidaysMarket hoursMarket indexesMarket indicatorsMomentum tradingOptionsOptions pricingOptions settlementPortfolio managementRisk managementStocksStock marketTechnical analysisTechnical indicatorsTrading commissionsTrading platformsTrading psychologyTrend trading
Resources

Workshops

Podcast

Blog
Support

Help Center
Overview
Getting started
What is a bot?Creating a botAutomation typesAutomation editorBot dashboardBot positionsBot logTemplates and cloningKey conceptsSafeguards and limitsPower of botsBest practices
Bot automations
What is an automation?Scanner automationsMonitor automationsEvent automationsEditing automationsReusing automationsCopying automationsOrdering automationsUsing custom inputsBot level inputsAutomation statusesAutomations library
Bot actions
DecisionsOpen positionClose positionNotificationsLoop symbolsLoop positionsBot tagsPosition tags
Bot examples
Genesis 1.0 botGenesis 2.0 botGenesis 3.0 botTrend trading with stocks botPortfolio trend trading botTrend trading with options botMultiple moving averages botTechnical swing trading botTrend and momentum botWeekly credit spread botRecurring iron condors botThe "Honey Badger" botHybrid spreads botHigh IV rank iron condor bot
Decision recipes
Comparing underlying symbol priceEvaluating symbol typeComparing underlying symbol propertiesEvaluating underlying symbol performanceEvaluating underlying symbol standard deviationComparing underlying symbol price to an indicatorComparing multiple underlying symbol indicatorsEvaluating underlying symbol implied volatility rankEvaluating underlying symbol earnings reportingEvaluating underlying symbol price probabilityEvaluating underlying symbol probability within rangeEvaluating bot propertiesEvaluating bot available capital for opportunitiesComparing bot position count to position typeComparing bot position count to underlying symbolEvaluating bot position count to position type and underlying symbolEvaluating bot last position activityEvaluating bot last activity with underlying symbolComparing bot active orders statusComparing bot active orders status with underlying symbolEvaluating bot position availabilityEvaluating bot tagsEvaluating opportunity availabilityEvaluating opportunity return expectationsComparing opportunity attributesComparing opportunity leg attributesComparing opportunity bid-ask spreadEvaluating opportunity probabilitiesEvaluating position performanceComparing profit target to trailing valueComparing position time to expirationComparing position durationEvaluating position underlying symbolComparing position propertiesComparing position leg propertiesEvaluating position typeEvaluating position sideComparing underlying symbol price to position legEvaluating position tagsEvaluating underlying symbol indicator propertiesComparing multiple underlying symbol indicator propertiesEvaluating MACD technical indicatorComparing Bollinger Bands to symbol priceEvaluating stochastic technical indicatorComparing VIX propertiesEvaluating market time of the dayEvaluating days of the weekEvaluating bot switches
Position statement
Activity summaryPosition detailsTrade detailsOpened positionsClosed positionsCanceled positionsOverride positionsExpired positionsPosition historyManually open positionManually close positionImport position
Order pricing
SmartPricingFinal price settingsPosition summaryOrder detailsWorking ordersManual override
Bot templates
Creating new templatesUpdating existing templatesDeleting templatesSharing templatesUpdating shared templatesTemplate best practices
Cloning bots
Cloning existing botsCloning from templateCloning from shared template
Troubleshooting
Using bot logsTesting your botsNot enough capital warningDaily position limit warningTotal position limit warningPricing anomaly warningMissing or invalid input errorDaily symbol limit errorExcessive errors failsafeOverlapping strikes failsafePrice exceeds strike-difference errorOptions expiration protocolDuplicate orders errorOptions approval level errorBot event loopsStock splits and corporate actionsSupported browsersSupported countries
Community forum
Community guidelinesCrafting your introductionSending group messagesSending private messagesAttaching bot templatesReceiving bot templatesAttaching automationsReceiving automationsFollowing tradersPosting publiclyEditing posts and messagesSubscribed discussionsUsing bookmarks
Using backtester
Running a new backtestBacktesting results summaryModifying existing backtestsMy backtestsBacktesting research databaseTop backtestsBacktesting errors
Account settings
My profileTrading accountsConnecting to TDAmeritradeConnecting to TradeStationConnecting to TradierIncompatible accountsPassword managementSession timeoutTwo-step authentication
Technical docs
Infrastructure and securityAutomation structureAutomation behaviorData feedsOrder handlingTrade enforcementsBroker rejection errorsBot limitationsProfit and lossFair value pricingDecision propertiesDecision calculationsParameter selectionCalculating probabilityPlatform indicators

Contact
Send FeedbackReport IssueEmail Us
Option AlphaOption Alpha

LoginFree Trial
ResourcesPodcast

The Impact of Volatility on Options

In this episode, we discuss the impact of volatility on options pricing.
The Impact of Volatility on Options
Kirk Du Plessis
Apr 8, 2020

Stock trading is easy to understand conceptually because it’s one-dimensional. Either the stock goes up, or it goes down. Clear and simple, at least from a trading and profit or loss perspective. Options trading, however, is multi-dimensional. Price, time, and volatility all impact the value and price of an options contract. On today’s show, we’re selectively choosing to highlight the impact that volatility has on options because, as we’ve seen in the 2020 market collapse, if you’re not managing volatility, it could become your worst nightmare.

This episode is the sister episode to OAP 135: You Don’t Need a Degree in Financial Engineering to Understand How Implied Volatility Works. In episode #135, we dove deep into where the implied volatility number comes from and how implied volatility is calculated. In this episode, we are going to discuss the impact of volatility on option pricing.

How Options Are Priced

  • Options contracts are price based on two high-level categories: intrinsic value and extrinsic value.
  • With call options, they have intrinsic value if the strike price is below where the stock is trading.
  • Put options have intrinsic value if the strike price is above where the stock is trading.
  • Out of the money contracts have no intrinsic value — there’s no value if you were to convert them from an options contract to a stock position.
  • Extrinsic value encompasses time until expiration, implied volatility, and interest rates.
  • As you get closer to expiration, all of the extrinsic value goes away until, at expiration, you’re left with just the intrinsic value of the contract.

What is Volatility?

  • Volatility is nothing more than movement in the market.
  • Volatility is non-directional — it can be movement in either direction.
  • There are two classifications of volatility: expected and realized.
  • The differential between the market’s expected movement and the actual realized movement creates implied volatility premium or the risk premium that’s embedded in option contracts.
  • Broad, long-term trends show that markets move less than expected.

The VIX

  • The VIX is the graphic embodiment of volatility for the SPX or the S&P 500.
  • The VIX is a 30-day representation of what volatility should be on the S&P or what people expect it to be.
  • Volatility on the VIX and on the S&P is not the same as volatility on an individual security.

Why Does Volatility Change?

  • Market forces are the driver of changes in volatility.
  • Markets seek certainty. When you go into an uncertain environment, you start to see a rise in volatility or expected volatility.
  • When you go from a known state to an unknown state very fast, that’s what causes such dramatic changes in volatility over a short period of time.

Impact of Volatility on Options Price

  • The broad impact that volatility has on an option’s price is simply this: when implied volatility or expected volatility goes up, then option prices go up as well.
  • Vega measures the impact of changes in implied volatility, or, more specifically, the price change in the option contract for every 1% change in implied volatility.
  • When option prices change, they change differently based on how far you are from expiration.
  • Vega values for option prices tend to be higher for further out contracts in time.
  • For more on options Greeks, check out OAP: 44: Which Options Greeks Are the Most Important.

Example: SPY, 15 days from expiration

  • The $250 at the money call options for April are trading for about $10.35.
  • The Vega value is 21 — if volatility were to change by 1% for the S&P, then we should expect that the option contract, the call option at $250, to change by about $21. If volatility goes up by 2%, then we would expect that this option contract would go up by about $42.
  • When looking at the May contracts, which are about 43 days to go until expiration, then the Vega value for the $250 calls is 34.
  • As you go out further in time, small changes in implied volatility have a much greater impact as you go further out the expiration cycle.
  • You would see a greater change in the options contracts value based purely on an implied volatility shift for the May contracts that are 43 days from expiration than you would for the April contracts, which are 15 days from expiration.
  • The longer you are from expiration, then the greater the impact implied volatility will have on your option contracts price.
  • Option contracts with strike prices closer to the current stock price have higher Vega values compared to option contracts of the same expiration that are further out of the money.
  • When you go out to the 10 Delta call options for the April expiration, the $275 options, those have a Vega value of just 11.
  • In the April expiration, Vega is going to have a greater impact on options contracts that have a strike price around $250 compared to option contracts that are at $275.
  • When you go out to the 10 Delta call options in May, which are about the 280 strike, 43 days to go until expiration, the Vega value is 24.

Impact of Volatility By Strategy

  • Undefined risk strategies as an option seller include: short put options, short call options, short strangles, and short straddles.
  • These strategies see a dramatic change in the options price when volatility changes because these contracts are one-sided.
  • Similarly, defined-risk, long option strategies are significantly impacted by changes in volatility. Examples as an option buyer include: buying a call, buying a put, buying a strangle, and buying a straddle.
  • With undefined risk strategies or strategies where you’re a one-sided trader — pure selling, pure buying — those strategies are going to have the biggest changes in option price when volatility changes.

Defined Risk Strategies

  • Defined risk strategies have somewhat offsetting moves from changes in volatility.
  • Defined risk strategies include: credit spreads, debit spreads, iron condors, and iron butterflies.
  • When you trade spreads, you have to think about the offsetting impact of volatility.

Example: SPY

  • When you trade a put option spread in the May expiration where SPY is trading at $250, and you sell the $240 put option and buy the $239 put option, you create a $1 wide credit spread.
  • The Vega value for the $240 and the $239 put options are both the same at 33.
  • Because the spread is so narrow, changes in volatility will be almost completely offset for that particular spread.
  • If you sold the $240 put option and bought the $220 put option, now you’ve widened your defined risk spread to $20 wide.
  • The $220 put option has a Vega value of 27, and the $240 put option has a Vega value of 33.
  • When implied volatility drops, there will be a much bigger benefit to your position.
  • If you sold a really wide iron condor and made the wings $20 from where the stock was trading and only did a $5-wide spread on either side, when implied volatility drops, you won’t get that big of an impact to our option price.

Understanding the impact of volatility on different strategies, like iron butterflies and iron condors, takes you to the next level in your option trading. This depth of understanding elevates you to a different level and allows you to be more effective in your strategy selection, less emotional, and a better decision-maker.

Option Trader Q&A w/ Ray

Trader Q&A is our favorite segment of the show because we get to hear from one of our community members and help answer their questions live on the air. Today’s question comes from Ray:

My question is focused on inverse ETF’s, like the SH from ProShares or TZA from Direxion. I think I understand the basic concept, but what confuses me is the notion of puts and calls in an inverse fund. If I buy a call in an inverse fund, does the call premium rise when the underlying goes down? Conversely, does the put fall? Why would I simply not buy a put in a traditional index fund if I am trying to hedge my account versus getting involved in an inverse fund? I’m sure I’m missing something here, but I would love to hear your input on that? Thanks.

Remember, if you’d like to get your question answered here on the podcast or LIVE on Facebook & Periscope, head over to OptionAlpha.com/ASK and click the big red record button in the middle of the screen and leave me a private voicemail. There’s no software to download or install and it’s incredibly easy.

Volatility
Options
Extrinsic Value

4.8 (1.1k Ratings)
Subscribe Now

No-code, fully automated trading for stocks and options.

HomeAboutLegalStatusContact
©2022 Option Alpha. All Rights Reserved. Patent Pending USSN 63/118,547