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Underlying Stock - In our example GE would be the underlying
stock for GEAO.
Option Type - In our example GEAO is a call option.
Strike Price - In our example the strike price for GEAO would be
$75.
Days To Go - Number of days remaining until expiration (this
normally includes non-trading days such as weekends).
Current Price - This is the most recent price paid for the option. It
is expressed per each underlying share. In order to get the price for each
contract, you must multiply this price by 100 (since each contract
represents 100 shares of the underlying stock). Option prices are
normally expressed in fractions whenever needed, with 1/16 often being
the lowest fraction possible. So you may see prices such as $20, $9 1/2,
$5 3/4, $1 5/8, $4 3/16, $1/16, etc. With the newer decimal rules, option
prices are expressed in $0.05 and $0.10 increments. For example, $5.75,
$1.65, $4.10, $0.05, etc.
Ask And Bid Prices - Just like stocks, a seller's asking price is the ask
price while the buyer's offering price is the bid price. When a buyer
decides to take the ask price or a seller decides to take the bid price, the
trade is concluded and the trading price becomes the option's price
until the next trade happens. Again these prices are expressed per share
of the underlying stock price, not per contract.
Volume - This is the number of contracts traded so far during the
day.
Open Interest - This is the total number of outstanding contracts
on the option so far. As new contracts are created and sold, open
interest goes up. As contract positions are settled, open interest goes
down by the number of settled contracts. In other words open interest
reflects the total number of contracts of a particular option that people
are currently holding.
Premium - The premium is the price you pay for the option (i.e.,
price for the right to exercise at a fixed price). Sometimes the premium …
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