Calendar Spread Expires In The Money
A calendar spread is a strategy involving buying longer term options and selling equal number of shorter term options of the same underlying stock or index.
Calendar spread expires in the money. It is sometimes referred to as a horizonal spread whereas a bull put spread or bear call spread would be referred to as a vertical spread. A calendar spread consists of buying or selling a call or put of one expiration and doing the opposite in a later expiration. A long calendar spread is a good strategy to use when prices are expected to expire at the strike price at the expiry of the front month option.
You will be obligated to deliver shares of stock or buy stock at the short option strike price and your broker would use the long option to cover the obligation. One such strategy is known as the calendar spread sometimes referred to as a time spread when entered using near or at the money options a calendar spread allows traders to profit if the. The most important thing to remember in any spread position is that you have sold a call option or sold a put option.
When the front month expiration cycle fell between 30 45 days to expiration we sold the at the money put in that cycle. If you re trading spreads there will be two or more legs that make up the spread. A vertical has two legs a short leg and a long leg a calendar has two legs a short leg and a long leg a butterfly has three legs etc.
More often than not this involves buying or selling an option in the front month the expiration closest to the current date and selling or buying an option of the same strike either the next month or a few months out. The spread attempts to capture premium decay as well. This means you still may have to fulfill the obligation of the.
In the foregoing example the suggestion was to have more options in the short leg than in the long leg. A calendar spread is an option trade that involves buying and selling an option on the same instrument with the same strikes price but different expiration periods. The fact that the calendar diagonal spread has two different strike prices and two different expiration months is what comprises the strategy.
Then calendar spreads might be for you.