Altiplano Option

This definition gets deep in the weeds in the options market. We'll try to keep it relatively simple, but here we go...

In options trading, there's a thing called mountain ranges. This is a nickname for a type of option that combines aspects of options for different underlying securities. There are a bunch of these, each of them operating in specific ways and each named after famous mountain ranges (or individual mountains) in the world: Annapurna, Everest, Himalayan, etc.

Among these mountain range options, there's the Altiplano variety. (The Altiplano is actually a plateau region in the Andes mountains, a range located in South America.) The Altiplano option starts with a standard option for some combination of underlying assets (say shares of different companies' stocks). On top of this is added a type of option that provides a pay out if the stocks don't get to their strike prices during the option period.

So the Altiplano basically combines an option betting that the assets will get to certain prices in a certain period of time with an option providing some insurance if the prices aren't reached.