Ultima

For the lion's (or Godzilla's) share of this definition, it's gonna read like we're describing the plot of a Japanese monster movie. But...stick with us.

Ultima has to do with vomma, which is a derivative of vega (see what we mean?). Let's start with vega. It measures the relationship between the price of an option and the volatility of the underlying asset on which that option is based. So like...you have a call option based on shares of NFLX. Vega measures how the call price changes when implied volatility for NFLX changes.

Vomma is a derivative of vega. It describes the rate at which vega changes. Vega for your NFLX call starts going up; vomma tells you by how much. If it starts going down, vomma will track that as well (it can be positive or negative).

Think of it like the difference between speed and velocity. Speed tells you how fast you're going at a particular moment. Velocity tells you how fast your speed is changing. In this metaphor, vega is speed and vomma is acceleration. Or deceleration. Remember: vomma can be negative or positive, depending on what's happening with vega.

Finally, we get to ultima. It represents a derivative of vomma. So, as vomma is to vega, ultima is to vomma (aaaaand we're back to describing Japanese monster movies). Ultima describes how fast vomma is changing. By the time you get to ultima, you're way into the options weeds. Typically, if you're just using vanilla calls and puts, ultima doesn't come into play. But if you have a strategy involving exotic options, it can be useful in tracking vomma over time. We'll cover mothra some other time.