Gut Spread

A “gut spread” might sound like a good name for what happens when we habitually eat too many pizza rolls, but in the financial world, it means something very, very different.

A “gut spread” is a type of option spread, and in this scenario, our options are called “guts” because our put and call options are both in-the-money: our call option’s strike price is below market value and our put option’s strike price is above market value. Being in-the-money also means that these options are a little more expensive than their out-of-the-money kin; they have more intrinsic value, which is also why they’re referred to as “guts.” They’re hearty. If we buy both puts and calls, it’s a long gut spread; if we sell both puts and calls, it’s a short gut spread.

Why? Let’s say there’s a new ocean clean-up company on the scene that we’ve been looking at. They’ve got a unique business model for removing plastic from the water that involves ginormous, floating Roomba-looking things, and we’re not sure whether they’re going to be successful or not. In this situation, we might go with a long gut spread: we’re not sure whether the price of their stock will go up or down, but we’re sure it’s going to do one of the two in a big way, and we’re gonna make some money on it.

On the other hand, let’s consider Taxidonculous, a company that makes tax accounting software. Their stock has been humming along with no major fluctuations for a while now, and we expect that trend to continue. In this case, we might go with a short gut spread: we’ll get paid hefty premiums up front, since our options are in-the-money, and we’ll also probably (hopefully) avoid losing money since the stock price is relatively stable.