Information About

Moneyness




In Finance , moneyness is a measure of the degree to which a Derivative is likely to have positive monetary value at its expiration.

An Option is at-the-money if the Strike Price , i.e., the price the option holder must pay to exercise the option, is the same as the current price of the underlying security on which the option is written. An '''out-of-the-money''' option currently has no intrinsic value - e.g. a Call Option is out-the-money if the strike price ("the strike") is higher than the current underlying price. An '''in-the-money''' option conversely does have intrinsic value. The strike price of an in-the-money call option is lower than the current underlying price.

For example suppose the current stock price of IBM is $100. A call or Put Option with a strike of $100 is at-the-money. A call option with a strike of $80 is in-the-money (100 - 80 = 20 > 0). A put option with a strike at $80 is out-of-the-money (80 - 100 = -20 < 0). Conversely a call option with a $120 strike is out-of-the-money and a put option with a $120 strike is in-the-money.

When one uses the Black-Scholes Model to value the option, one may define moneyness quantitatively. If we define the moneyness as

: m = rac{d_1+d_2}{2}
where d_1 and d_2 are the standard Black-Scholes parameters then
: m = rac{\ln(S/K)-rT}{\sigma\sqrt t}

This choice of parameterisation means that the moneyness is zero when the forward/underlying price matches the strike after discounting at the risk-free rate. Such an option is often referred to as at-the-money-forward. Moneyness is measured in standard deviations from this point, with a positive value meaning an in-the-money option and a negative value meaning an out-of-the-money option.


SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS

  • In the Money Options - Make Mondays Your Discount Stock-Buying Day by Lee Lowell, Advisory Panelist, Mt. Vernon Options Club