The long call strategy involves the outright purchase of a call option where the goal is to profit from appreciation in the price of the underlying stock or index. Maximum risk is limited to the premium paid for the option while max profit is unlimited as a stock can theoretically rise indefinitely. The trader needs to also consider the expiration in that the price of the underlying will need to rise prior to the termination of trading for the option to appreciate in value.Â
Greek and IV ConsiderationsÂ
Long calls have positive delta, and with all things constant, will rise in value as the underlying increases in price. As the calls are purchased, long options have negative theta and will erode in value over time. Increases in implied volatility will tend to raise the prices of options, as calls are owned an increase in IV will benefit the price appreciation of the call.Â
Calculations
- Break Even (Ask) : Strike + Ask
- Net Debit: Ask * 100, the price paid is the price of the option (ask) multiplied by option's number of underlying sharesÂ
- Max Profit: UnlimitedÂ
Options information is delayed a minimum of 15 minutes, and is updated at least once every 15-minutes through-out the day. The new day's options data will start populating the screener at approximately 8:55a CT.
Main features of the Screener include:
- Ability to add various filters, with hundreds of different combinations.
- Save a Screener: When you've defined filters that you want to use again, save the screener.
- Load a Saved Screener: Select a previously saved set of Screener filters to view today's results.
- View the Results using Flipcharts: Page through charts of the symbols on the results page. You may choose to view charts for the underlying equity or for the option strike when you open the Flipcharts link.
- Download the Results: Download up to 1000 results to a .csv file. The Download will also pull all of the data fields present on the View you use.
- Save Results to a Watchlist: You can save either the underlier symbols or the options symbols presented in the Results tab to any of your Watchlists.
- Automatic Screener Emails: This option is available for Barchart Premier Members. When you save a screener, you can opt to receive the top 10, 25, or 50 results via email along with an optional .csv file of the top 1000 results. Emails can be sent at Market Open (9:00am CT), Mid-Day (12:00pm CT), End-of-Day (4:45pm CT), and Overnight (3:00am CT) Monday through Friday.
Note: When selecting the Filter View for your Screener email, a filter must identify a specific search value in order for it to be included in the email.
Filters
Barchart Premier subscribers can add or modify different filters on the screener to find calls on the most favorable stock options.
Reordering Filters
Once filters are added, you may drag and drop them in the SET FILTERS tab to reorder the way they appear on the RESULTS tab (when using the Filters View). Each filter you add has the "Order" icon which is used to reposition it.
Deleting Filters
To remove a filter from your screener, click the checkbox to the left of the filter name, then click the red "Delete" button at the top of the column. You may also select all filters for deletion by clicking the checkbox at the top of the column, which selects ALL filters for deletion. You will be asked to confirm your decision to delete.
So you can focus on the best options, the screener starts by removing certain puts and calls:
- Only Monthly options are shown, with Days to Expiration less than 60.
- Only stocks are screened (with the ability to add ETFs and Indices to the mix).
- For the US market, the options volume must be greater than or equal to 100, For Canada, volume must be greater than or equal to 5.
- For the US market, open interest must be greater than or equal to 500. For Canada, open interest must be greater than or equal to 25.
- Moneyness is between -25% to -5% (OTM). Moneyness refers to the relative position of the underlying asset's last price to the strike price. When a call option's Moneyness is negative, the underlying last price is less than the strike price; when positive, the underlying last price is greater than the strike price. When a put option's Moneyness is negative, the underlying last price is greater than the strike price; when positive, the underlying last price is less than the strike price. Â
Note: Non-standard or "restricted options" (options quotes marked with an asterisk * after the strike price, and found on an individual symbol's options page) may appear in the Options Screener results. A "restricted option" is typically created after spin-offs or mergers, and is not tradeable.
Views
The Results page contains three standard views. You may switch the view using the links at the top of the screener results table. The Main View shows the Volume and Open Interest for each option, while the Dividend & Earnings View can be used to highlight strategies with upcoming dividends and earnings. The Filter view shows you the data contained in the field(s) you've added to the screener.
Main View
- Symbol - the underlying equity. Clicking on the symbol will take you to the current quote page.
- Price~Â - the delayed stock price for the underlying equity.
- Strike - the price at which the underlying security can be bought if the option is exercised.
- BE(Ask) - Strike Price + Ask Price
- Net Debit - Ask * 100, the price paid is the price of the option (ask) multiplied by option's number of underlying sharesÂ
- Moneyness -  the relative position of the underlying asset's last price to the strike price. When a call option's Moneyness is negative, the underlying last price is less than the strike price; when positive, the underlying last price is greater than the strike price. When a put option's Moneyness is negative, the underlying last price is greater than the strike price; when positive, the underlying last price is less than the strike price. Â
- Exp Date - the expiration date of the option
- DTE - days till expiration
- Bid - The highest price that a BUYER is willing to pay, or the price at which you can sell the option.
- Ask - The lowest price that a SELLER is willing to receive, or the price at which you can buy the option.
- Volume - the total number of options traded in the current day for a contract.
- Open Interest - the total number of open option contracts in the market for a particular contract. The more popular the contract is with options traders, the greater the Open Interest. An opening transaction will increase the Open Interest, and a closing transaction will decrease it.
- Implied Volatility (IV)- the estimated volatility of the option strike over the period of the option.
- Max Profit - Max Profit is equal to the BE(Ask) x 100
- ITM Probability -Probability that the underlying will be above the strike at expiration
- OTM Probability - Probability that the underlying will be below the strike at expiration
- Last Trade - the date/time of the last trade for the option. Options information is delayed a minimum of 15 minutes, and is updated at least once every 15-minutes through-out the day.Â
Dividend & Earnings View
- Dividend - the dividend the equity pays on the Ex-Dividend Date. On the morning of the Dividend Ex-Date, the stock's price is lowered by the amount of the dividend that was just paid.
- Dividend Ex-Date - the first day on which the stock trades without the dividend. If you wish to receive the dividend, you must own the stock by the close of market on the day before the Dividend Ex-Date. Many times, a covered call is exercised early so the buyer can own the stock and collect the dividend. This typically happens to ITM options the day before the Dividend Ex-Date.
- Earnings Date - The date on which a company is expected to release their next earnings report. The prices are more volatile, which tends to inflate the prices of the near-the-money strikes. During a contract period when there is an earnings report due, the earnings announcement can dramatically shift the range in which the stock has been trading.
Options View
- Symbol - the underlying equity. Clicking on the symbol will take you to the current quote page.
- Price - the delayed stock price for the underlying equity.
- Type - Put or Call
- Strike - the price at which the underlying security can be bought if the option is exercised.
- Exp Date - the expiration date of the option
- DTE - days till expiration
- Last Price - the price of the option.
- Bid - The highest price that a BUYER is willing to pay, or the price at which you can sell the option.
- Midpoint - the midpoint between the bid and ask price.
- Ask - The lowest price that a SELLER is willing to receive, or the price at which you can buy the option.
- Delta - Measures the sensitivity of an option's theoretical value to a change in the price of the underlying asset.
- Implied Volatility (IV)- the estimated volatility of the option strike over the period of the option.
- Volume - the total number of options traded in the current day for a contract.
- Open Interest - the total number of open option contracts in the market for a particular contract. The more popular the contract is with options traders, the greater the Open Interest. An opening transaction will increase the Open Interest, and a closing transaction will decrease it.
- Last Trade - the date/time of the last trade for the option. Options information is delayed a minimum of 15 minutes, and is updated at least once every 15-minutes through-out the day.Â
