The Volatility & Greeks View presents theoretical information based on and calculated using the Binomial Option Pricing model. This view is similar to the Stacked view, where Calls are listed first, and Puts are "stacked" underneath, but the table displays a different set of information for the options trader to help monitor and analyze your risk. "In-the-money" Calls are Puts are highlighted.
Options information is delayed a minimum of 15 minutes, and is updated at least once every 15-minutes through-out the day.
Barchart allows you to view options by Expiration Date (select the expiration month/year using the drop-down menu at the top of the page). Weekly expiration dates are labeled with a (w) in the expiration date list.
You can also view options in a Stacked or Side-by-Side view. The View setting determines how Puts and Calls are listed on the page. For both views, "Near-the-Money" Calls and Puts are highlighted:
Near-the-Money - Puts: Strike Price is greater than the Last Price
Near-the-Money - Calls: Strike Price is less than the Last Price
For the selected Options Expiration date, the information listed at the top of the page includes:
- Options Expiration: The last day on which an option may be exercised, or the date when an option contract ends. Also includes the number of days till options expiration (this number includes weekends and holidays).
- Implied Volatility: The ATM average implied volatility of the nearest monthly contract.
- Historic Volatility: The 20-day historic volatility for the underlying asset. Historic volatility is the standard deviation of the "price returns" over a given number of sessions, multiplied by a factor (260 days) to produce an annualized volatility level.Â
Fields displayed on the Volatility & Greeks View include:
- Strike - The price at which the contract can be exercised. Strike prices are fixed in the contract. For call options, the strike price is where the security can be bought (up to the expiration date), while for put options the strike price is the price at which shares can be sold. The difference between the underlying security's current market price and the option's strike price represents the amount of profit per share gained upon the exercise or the sale of the option. This is true for options that are in the money; the maximum amount that can be lost is the premium paid.
- Last - the last traded price for the Put or Call.
- Theoretical Value - Theoretical Value is the hypothetical value of the option, calculated by the Binomial Option Pricing Model.
- Implied Volatility - Implied Volatility (IV) is the estimated volatility of the underlying stock over the period of the option. IV can help traders determine if options are fairly valued, undervalued, or overvalued. It can therefore help traders make decisions about option pricing, and whether it is a good time to buy or sell options. Implied volatility is determined mathematically by using current option prices in a formula that also includes Standard Volatility (which is based on historical data). The resulting number helps traders determine whether the premium of an option is "fair" or not. It is also a measure of investors' predictions about future volatility of the underlying stock.
- Delta - Delta measures the sensitivity of an option's theoretical value to a change in the price of the underlying asset. It is normally represented as a number between minus one and one, and it indicates how much the value of an option should change when the price of the underlying stock rises by one dollar.
- Gamma - Gamma measures the rate of change in the delta for each one-point increase in the underlying asset. It is a valuable tool in helping you forecast changes in the delta of an option or an overall position. Gamma will be larger for the at-the-money options, and gets progressively lower for both the in- and out-of-the-money options. Unlike delta, gamma is always positive for both calls and puts.
- Rho - The rate at which the price of a derivative changes relative to a change in the risk-free rate of interest. Rho measures the sensitivity of an option or options portfolio to a change in interest rate. For example, if an option or options portfolio has a rho of 12.124, then for every percentage-point increase in interest rates, the value of the option increases 12.124%.
- Theta - Theta is a measure of the time decay of an option, the dollar amount that an option will lose each day due to the passage of time. For at-the-money options, theta increases as an option approaches the expiration date. For in- and out-of-the-money options, theta decreases as an option approaches expiration.
- Vega - Vega measures the sensitivity of the price of an option to changes in volatility. A change in volatility will affect both calls and puts the same way. An increase in volatility will increase the prices of all the options on an asset, and a decrease in volatility causes all the options to decrease in value.
- Volume - the total number of options traded in the current day for a contract.
- Open Interest - Open Interest is the total number of open option contracts that have been traded but not yet liquidated via offsetting trades for that date.
- Vol/OI - for the Strike Price: today's volume / today's open interest. A higher ratio indicates unusual activity for the option.
- Type - the type of option (Put or Call)
