Chapter 10. Basic Properties of Options
© Paul Koch 1-1
I. Notation and Assumptions:
A. Notation:
S:
K:
T:
ST:
S:
r:
C:
P:
c:
p:
current stock price;
exercise price of option;
time to expiration of option;
stock price at time T;
volatility of stock returns;
riskfree rate of interest for maturity at time T;
value of American call option to buy one share;
value of American put option to sell one share;
value of European call option to buy one share;
value of European put option to sell one share.
B. Assumptions: 1. No transactions costs.
2. All net profits are subject to same tax rate.
3. Can borrow or lend at same riskfree rate (r).
4. Arbitrageurs take advantage of any opportunities.
II. Economic Factors that Affect Option Prices
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+
-
+
+
+
-
A. Value of a Call = C = f {S, K, T, r, S, D}.
Call option is more valuable if:
1. underlying stock price (S) increases.
2. you have the right to buy at a lower strike price (K).
3. there is a longer time to maturity (T).
4. the riskfree rate (r) increases.
5. the underlying stock price (S) is more volatile (S).
6. the dividend is smaller (D).
II.B Summary: How Factors Affect Option Prices
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Variable
S
K
T
r
S
D
European
Call (c)
+
+(?)
+
+
-
European
Put (p)
+
+(!)
+
+
American
Call (C)
+
+
+
+
-
American
Put (P)
+
+
+
+
(?) – Long term European call usually costs more than short term call.
But suppose a dividend is paid after short term call expires.
Holder of short term European call will get dividend.
Holder of long term European call will not.
So short term call may be worth more than long term call.
Same argument does not apply to puts. More later.
Comparison of American call (C) and European call (c):
American call gives all rights in European call, plus right to exercise early.
Thus, American call must be at least as valuable as European call: C  c.
.
.
III. Boundary Conditions for Option Prices
© Paul Koch 1-4
A. Upper Bounds:
1. Call gives holder right to buy one share @ K.
Call cannot be more valuable than one share.
c  S and C  S.
2. Put gives holder right to sell one share @ K.
Put cannot be more valuable than K.
p  K and P  K.
3. At expiration, we know p  K (for European put).
Thus, today, p  Ke-rT
(and this is < K).
If p > Ke-rT,
at expiration,
sell European put today,
perT > K; arbitrage.
Not true for American put (more later).
invest @ r;
III.B. Lower Bound for Euro Call on non-dividend-paying Stock
© Paul Koch 1-5
Consider two portfolios:
Portfolio A:
Buy one call and K bonds each paying $1 at T.
Cash flows today:
-c
-Ke-rT
(will need $K at exp.)
Portfolio B:
Buy one share of stock.
Cash flows today:
-S
__________________________________________________________
Flows
Value at Expiration
.
Portfolio
Today
If ST>K
If ST<K .
Portfolio A:
Total:
Portfolio B:
-c
-Ke-rT
ST - K
K .
-c - Ke-rT
-S
0
K .
ST
K
ST
ST
.
Obs. #1: If S, both portfolios pay ST; If S, Portfolio A does better (hedged).
Thus Portfolio A is worth at least as much as B:
c + Ke-rT  S
or
c  S - Ke-rT
European Call cannot sell for less than (S - Ke-rT ).
III.B. Lower Bound for Euro Call on non-dividend-paying Stock
© Paul Koch 1-6
c  S - Ke-rT
Obs. #2:
If r higher, Ke-rT lower; call is more valuable;
Then pay less today for bond that promises K at expiration;
Don’t have to tie up as much $ today, if r increases.
Thus, c = f(r) --- if r ↑, c ↑.
Obs. #3:
American call will not be exercised early (if no dividend) .
C  S - Ke-rT > S - K.
Want out?
¤¤¤ →
Can exercise American call early, & receive S - K;
Or can sell American call,
& receive C [ > S - K ].
Will never exercise American call early (if no dividend) !
American call acts like European call (if no dividend) !
American and European call are worth same: C = c.
III.B. Lower Bound for Euro Call on non-dividend-paying Stock
© Paul Koch 1-7
Problem 10.4:
Answer:
Give 2 reasons why early exercise of an American call
is not optimal (i.e., why owner would not exercise early!).
keep
1. Delaying exercise delays payment of the strike price.
Thus, option holder earns more interest on strike price.
2. Delaying exercise also gives insurance against declines in S.
If S declines below K, call OTM, can then keep K!
___________________________________________________________________
* What if stock will pay a dividend during life of option? (Then equ. doesn’t hold.).
Problem 10.6: Explain why an American call on a dividend-paying stock is
worth ≥ its intrinsic value. Is the same true of a European call?
Answer:
American call can be exercised anytime. Thus, C ≥ S - K .
Can’t exercise European call early.
Thus, c ≤ C .
If American, can exercise,
& get dividend;
If European, can’t exercise. Don’t get dividend. We know S will  after div !
Thus, European call can be worth less than American call: c < C .
European call can even be worth less than intrinsic value: c < S - K ,
since after dividend, we know S will  (maybe < current S).
This is only* situation when American call may be exercised early.
III.C. Lower Bound for Euro Put on non-dividend-paying Stock
© Paul Koch 1-8
Consider two portfolios.
Portfolio C:
buy one put and one share of stock (S+P; protective put)
Cash flows today:
-p
-S
Portfolio D:
buy K bonds that each pay $1 at expiration.
Cash flows today:
-Ke-rT
______________________________________________________________
Flows
Value at Expiration .
Portfolio
Today
If ST < K
If ST > K .
Portfolio C:
-p
K - ST
0
-S .
ST
ST .
Total:
-p - S
K
ST
Portfolio D:
-Ke-rT
K
K
.
If S decreases, portfolios C and D both pay K.
If S increases, portfolio C does better than D (hedged).
Therefore, portfolio C should be worth more than D:
p + S > Ke-rT
or
Worst outcome, put finishes OTM; So
p > Ke-rT - S
p > max{ (Ke-rT - S), 0 }
IV. Put - Call Parity
© Paul Koch 1-9
Fixed relation between prices of European puts & calls with same maturity & asset.
If we know the price of a European Call, can determine the price of a European put.
Recall:
S+p = B+c
or
S + p - B = c.
--(synthetic call)
Consider the combination, S + p - B;
Buy stock (+S), buy put (+p), & sell bond (-B) for Ke-rT, maturing at expiration.
_____________________________________________________________
Flows
Value at Expiration .
Portfolio
Today
If ST>K
If ST<K .
Portfolio A ( buy synthetic call ):
buy stock
-S
buy put
-p
sell bond
+Ke-rT
Total:
-S - p + Ke-rT
Portfolio B ( buy call ):
-c
ST
0
-K
ST
K - ST
-K .
ST - K
0
ST - K
0
.
Outcomes are identical. Thus, initial cost of Portfolio A must be same as call:
-c = -S - p + Ke-rT or
c = S + p - Ke-rT ;
Put - Call Parity
V. Effect of Dividends
© Paul Koch 1-10
Let D = NPV( expected dividends during life of option ).
Then all these relations hold, after adjusting for D.
A. Lower bound for European call on dividend paying stock:
c  S - (Ke-rT + D)
B. Lower bound for European put on dividend paying stock:
p  (Ke-rT + D) - S
C. Put-Call Parity; c = S + p - Ke-rT :
c = S + p - (Ke-rT + D)
VI.A. Position of EquityHolder as Long a Call
© Paul Koch 1-11
Equity in levered firm is call option on Value of firm (V). Simple Example:
1.
Firm has two sources of capital – Debt & Equity.
2.
Debt is zero coupon bond with face value, D; D is paid in T years, or default.
3.
Debt is secured by firm’s assets.
4.
Firm pays no dividends.
5.
Ignore taxes & bankruptcy costs.
6.
At maturity, V is divided among bondholders & shareholders.
7.
For the usual call option, underlying asset is a share of stock, S.
8.
For this illustration, the share of stock is the call option,
and the underlying asset is the value of the firm, V.
a.
If at maturity, V > D, this “option” is ITM;
Shareholders will exercise their option by
paying debtholders D, and keeping the rest, (V - D).
b.
If at maturity, V < D, this “option” is OTM;
Shareholders will default on debt & give firm to debtholders.
c.
At maturity, shareholder’s wealth is: W = max{ 0, V - D }.
--- Sam payoff as a call option on V with strike price, K = D!
VI.B. Position of DebtHolder as Short a Put
© Paul Koch 1-12
1. Value of BondHolders’ position = { D, if V > D; V, if V < D )
= min { V, D } = D - max { (D - V), 0 }.
a. If (D - V) < 0, shareholders pay off debt ( V > D! ),
bondholders receive D.
b. If (D - V) > 0, shareholders default debt ( V < D! ),
bondholders receive V [ = D - (D - V) = what’s left ].
2. Note: max{(D - V), 0} is payoff on a put option on V with K = D.
3. DebtHolders effectively have the following holdings:
a. Long a bond (make a loan) that pays D at maturity;
b. Short a put option on the value of the firm, with K = D.
4. If value of firm (V) increases,
a. Shareholders’ long call position [ max { (V - D), 0 } ] is more valuable.
b. Bondholders’ short put position [ max { (D - V), 0 } ] is smaller liability.
(Now bondholders are short a put that is worth less, since OTM; sell for D!)
c. Obviously, both parties want to see V increase.
VII. Early Exercise of American Puts
© Paul Koch 1-13
A. Recall, American call (C) will not be exercised early
if no dividend is paid during its life. Thus, C = c.
(American call acts like a European call.)
B. American puts (P) are different.
It may be wise to exercise American put early (even if no div):
1. If S is low enough;
2. If put is deep ITM.
3. Thus, P  p.
C. Example: Suppose K = $10; and S  $0.
1.
2.
3.
4.
If you exercise, receive (K - S)  $10 today.
If you wait, cannot receive more than $10 (S cannot  below $0).
Receiving $10 now is better than later.
Such an option should be exercised early.
VII. Early Exercise of American Puts
© Paul Koch 1-14
D. Intuition: Like a call, think of put as giving insurance.
1. Hold share (+S) plus put (+P); protective put.
a. If S , combination . Stock more valuable.
b. If S , receive K, insures against downside.
2. However, unlike a call, it may be optimal:
a. To forego this insurance & exercise put early;
b. To receive $K immediately.
3. In general,
a. If S 
b. If r 
c. If  
early exercise of put is more attractive if:
( put deeper ITM; more intrinsic value );
( more time value; (K-S) today is more attractive );
( less likely for S ; less extrinsic value ).

( less reason to keep put alive )
VII. Early Exercise of American Puts
© Paul Koch 1-15
E. Elaborate.
1. Recall lower bound for puts:
a. For European put: p  Ke-rT - S; For American put: P  K - S.
2. See graph. Shows how put values (p & P) vary with S:
a. For European put, p may be
< K - S.
b. For American put, P may not be < K - S.
3. For American put,
a. It is always optimal to exercise early, if S low enough ( point A ).
b. Price curve merges into put’s intrinsic value, (K - S), as S  below A.
c. For S values to right of point A, P > K - S ( there is extrinsic value! ).
i. Recall: Total Value = Intrinsic + Extrinsic.
d. This
i.
ii.
iii.
extrinsic value increases if:
r ; (lower interest, so K today less attractive; less time value)
 ; (more likely for good things to happen (S↓); more extr value)
T ; (more likely for good things to happen (S↓); more extr value)
VII. Early Exercise of American Puts
© Paul Koch 1-16
VII. Early Exercise of American Puts
© Paul Koch 1-17
VII. Early Exercise of American Puts
© Paul Koch 1-18
4. Compare American put (P) with European put (p).
a. [ P  K - S ]
>
[ p  Ke-rT - S ].
b. American put is always worth more than European (P > p).
c. Thus, European put is sometimes worth < Intrinsic Value.
i.e., [ p can be < K - S ].
d. See graph. Shows how European put value varies with S.
i. At point B,
p = K - S.
ii. If S < point B,
p < K - S.
iii. If S > point B,
p > K - S.