Called Away

  

Categories: Bonds, Derivatives, Trading

You owned 1,000 shares of Pepsi. It was trading at $100. You sold call options expiring in about 3 months for a dollar that had a strike price of $110. Pepsi reported quarterly results that really impressed Wall Street. The stock popped to $118, where it sat until the day the call option you sold was expiring.

At that point, the people to whom you sold that call option called away your stock, buying them from you for $110 and booking a gain that moment of the 8 bucks over the $110 strike less the dollar they paid you 3 months earlier. Bummer...

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