文档介绍：Reading
Hull Chapter 1: Perhaps re-read the section on options which is in sections 13>.5 – 1,10.
Hull Chapter 7: This starts with the basics of options and then goes on into the specific details of trading. Read up to for the crucial details and the rest if you’re still interested.
Hull Chapter 8: This is quite interesting but perhaps a little technical at this point in time. The most important part as regards the lecture is and perhaps . is interesting to see the crucial factors in determining the price of an option and will be useful for future reference (. the last two weeks).
Hull Chapter 9: Quite a nice chapter explaining options strategies, I’m going to work through a sample of these in class so it may be useful to famililiarise yourselves with the principal strategies.
Reading
HBR Article: Stock options have had a very negative press of late and here we have Nobel prize winner Robert Merton and other high-profile academics discussing some of the issues and argue for stock options to be put on the balance sheet. This will e into force at the start of 2005.
Futures contracts are contracts which cost nothing to enter. This is because if you are in the long position you gain when the spot price of the underlying asset, S, rises, you also lose when the price goes down (and vice versa with the short position).
An option is similar in many ways to a futures contract in that you have the right to buy (or sell) at a certain price in the future (this time it is called the exercise price). However, the principal difference is that you don’t have the obligation to buy at this price – you have the option as whether or not you choose to buy (or sell) at this price.
Clearly you will have to pay some premium for this privilege. How much?
Options: Introduction
Why options?
Options can again be used for three main purposes: hedging, speculating and arbitraging.
An option enables you to hedge against adverse market movements (. price of oil,