Spot Premium

  

Categories: Trading

Bored with regular options? There’s always the exotic SPOT option: the single payment options trading option.

A SPOT option is a type of binary option, which has earned the nickname “all or nothing” option, since you either get a predetermined amount of money...or nothing.

With SPOT options, you set the rules: pick the payout you want, and what would have to happen in the market for you to get your payout. Set your own bets, basically. The broker will then calculate what they think the SPOT option is worth, and set up an offer with you, the trader.

The amount the broker offers is the spot premium: the upfront money you pay to buy a SPOT option. If the economic event occurs, you get the SPOT option payout. If not, you lose your spot premium, and you’re left out in the cold.

But hey, that’s the risk you’re dealing with when you set up a SPOT option. Riding in the fast lane wouldn’t be fun if it wasn’t a bit risky.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What Is a Call Option?25 Views

00:00

finance a la shmoop. what is a call option? option? option, where are you? okay

00:09

yeah yeah. not phone options, call options. and a close but no cigar. a call option [man smokes in a tub of cash]

00:14

is the right to call or buy a security. the concept is easy the math is hard.

00:24

you think Coca Cola's poised for a breakout as they go into the new low

00:30

calorie beverage business. their stock is at 50 bucks a share and you can buy a [man stands on a stage as crowd cheers]

00:35

call option for $1. well that call option buys you the right

00:39

to then buy coke stock at 55 bucks a share anytime you want in the next

00:44

hundred and 20 days. so let's say Coke announces its new sugarless drink flavor

00:48

zero it's two weeks later and the stock skyrockets to fifty eight dollars a

00:53

share. you've already paid the dollar for the option now you have to exercise it. [man lifts weights]

00:59

so you buy the stock and you're all in now for fifty five dollars plus one or

01:04

fifty six bucks a share and your total value is now fifty eight bucks. well you

01:10

could turn around today and sell the bundle that moment, and you'll have

01:13

turned your dollar into two dollars of profit really fast. and obviously had the [equation on screen]

01:18

stock not skyrocketed so quickly well you would have lost everything. still you

01:23

lucked out and now you're sitting on some serious cash, courtesy of your call [two men in a tub of cash]

01:27

options. as for Coke flavor zero turned out to be nothing more than canned water.

Up Next

Finance: What is a Derivative?
23 Views

A derivative of a security is a "something" which derives its value based on the performance of that security... either a put option or a call option.

Finance: What Is a Put Option?
83 Views

What is a put option? A put option is a type of contract that lets the investor sell shares of a stock at a certain price and within a window of ti...

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)