At The Money

It sounds like something contestants shout during Wheel of Fortune ("Big Money! Atta Money! At-the-Money!") or maybe a kind of specialized racetrack bet ("I'd like the number four horse in the second rate at the money"). But "at the money" actually means that a stock's price matches the strike price of the stock options that an investor has bought.

So if you have the right to buy a share at $50 and then the share actually is at $50 when you go to buy, the share is at the money. Example: Joe Shmoe has paid 3 bucks for the right to buy a share of KO (Coke) for $80. That option expires in a week and the stock is at $76 a share today. If the stock climbs to $80 a share (the bid), then it is said to be "at-the-money" or at the strike price. If it climbs above $80, then it's "in the money"; below $80, it's "out of the money" honey.

Note that KO could be $82.50 and the call option buyer has still lost money on the trade (she paid $3 for the call and KO ended up only $2.50 in the money so she lost half a buck).