144  •   The Intelligent Option Investor
Making Sense of Option Quotes
Let’s start our practical discussion by taking a look at an actual option 
pricing screen. These screens can seem intimidating at first, but by the end 
of this chapter, they will be quite sensible.
Last
0.86 -0.23
-0.14
-0.04
-0.17
-0.14
-0.06
-0.13
-0.12
-0.07
-0.09
-0.14
-0.06
-0.20
-0.26
-0.10
+0.01
0.91 0.94 21.672% 24.733% 0.8387
0.4313
0.0631
0.0000
0.0000
0.0000
0.9580
0.9598
0.9620
0.7053
0.4743
0.2461
0.0357
0.0392
0.0482
21.722%
22.988%
62.849%
72.188%
81.286%
201.771%
192.670%
175.779%
20.098%
18.997%
18.491%
25.587%
29.201%
35.855%
55.427%
123.903%
64.054%
23.311%
22.407%
21.813%
21.147%
22.144%
23.409%
54.689%
66.920%
35.642%
23.656%
23.072%
22.553%
21.460%
21.374%
21.581%
32.597%
24.854%
23.426%
20.380%
19.627%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
0.26
0.04
0.02
0.02
0.02
13.30
12.40
11.35
1.19
0.58
0.22
0.01
0.01
0.02
11.90
12.35
10.10
1.68
1.10
0.67
0.05
0.03
0.02
0.24
0.02
10.35
9.30
8.40
1.17 19.408%
18.405%
17.721%
0.56
0.20
11.75
10.70
9.50
1.65
1.08
0.65
0.04
0.01
0.01
11.55 12.30
12.00
10.00
2.48
1.93
1.48
0.41
0.29
0.21
12.20
3.60
1.75
10.05
9.85
2.44
1.91
1.45
0.39
0.27
0.18
12.10
3.50
1.70
0.00
0.23
0.02
C0.00
C0.00
C0.00
0.09
0.45
1.15
C4.99
C5.99
C6.99
C4.99
C5.99
C6.99
C12.01
C11.01
C10.01
1.16
0.54
0.22
C0.00
C0.00
C0.00
C0.00
C0.00
C0.00
0.33
0.76
1.40
C5.03
C6.00
C6.99
C0.00
C0.01
C0.03
0.84
1.23
1.88
C12.02
C11.03
C10.04
1.65
1.06
0.66
C0.06
0.03
0.02
C12.05
C11.07
C10.10
C2.58
1.93
12.10
3.40
1.69
0.68
4.25
C7.27
1.42
0.38
C0.30
C0.22
C0.11
C0.15
C0.19
1.80
2.27
2.73
C5.57
C6.43
C7.35
Chng Bid AskA skImpl.I mpl.Bid Vol. Vol. Delta JUL 26 ´13
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Description
Call
Last Chng Bid AskA skImpl.I mpl.Bid Vol. Vol. Delta
Put
0.9897
0.9869
0.9834
0.6325
0.4997
0.3606
0.0463
0.0266
0.0155
0.9712
0.9628
0.9535
0.5890
0.5118
0.4324
0.1664
0.1258
0.0923
0.9064
0.5354
0.3336
+0.01
+0.10
+0.11
0.07 0.09 22.812%2 4.853% -0.1613
-0.5689
-0.9373
-1.0000
-1.0000
-1.0000
22.469%
24.612%
85.803%
203.970%
267.488%
20.456%
19.851%
N/A
N/A
N/A
0.42
1.20
5.25
7.25
8.90
0.39
1.17
4.90
4.85
5.40
+0.02
+0.09
+0.14
-0.0420
-0.0402
-0.0380
-0.2948
-0.5261
-0.7545
-0.9652
-0.9616
-0.9524
77.739%
70.681%
63.514%
20.303%
19.170%
19.011%
41.423%
61.602%
52.378%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
0.02
0.02
0.02
0.34
0.73
1.38
5.30
6.55
7.30
0.33
0.71
1.35
4.95
19.958%
18.577%
17.954%
4.65
6.70
22.720%
22.019%
21.378%
20.455%
19.050%
21.354%
0.000%
23.193%
22.845%
22.218%
21.148%
20.913%
20.899%
+0.07
+0.05
+0.16
+0.09
+0.12
+0.04
50.831%
48.233%
46.993%
23.384%
22.672%
22.106%
36.111%
30.947%
44.342%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
0.02
0.03
0.05
0.82
1.25
1.82
5.55
6.30
7.55
0.01
0.80
1.23
1.79
4.95
6.15
6.85
-0.0103
-0.0131
-0.0166
-0.3679
-0.5008
-0.6402
-0.9558
-0.9757
-0.9871
22.989%
22.284%
21.453%
17.134%
37.572%
38.919%
37.587%
35.246%
23.914%
23.485%
22.925%
22.967%
26.265%
28.715%
0.11 0.13
0.17
0.19
1.78
2.25
2.80
5.80
6.85
7.85
0.13
0.17
1.75
2.22
2.76
5.70
6.50
7.40
-0.0318
-0.0406
-0.0503
-0.4120
-0.4879
-0.5665
-0.8294
-0.8690
-0.9025
34.172%
23.567%
23.145%
22.479%
21.404%
19.420%
18.411%
37.790%
35.385%
30.523%
24.198%
23.081%
0.00
+0.09
33.497%
26.033%
24.745%
0.68
4.25
7.40
0.66
4.15
7.30
-0.0906
-0.4520
-0.6521
33.203%
25.378%
24.054%
AUG 16 ´13
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SEP 20 ´13
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JAN 17 ´14
JAN 16 ´15
I pulled this screen—showing the prices for options on Oracle (ORCL)—
on the weekend of July 20–21, 2013, when the market was closed. The last 
trade of Oracle’s stock on Friday, July 19, was at $31.86, down $0.15 from the 
Thursday’s close. Y our brokerage screen may look different from this one, but 
you should be able to pull back all the data columns shown here. I have limited 
the data I’m pulling back on this screen in order to increase its readability. 
More strikes were available, as well as more expiration dates. The expirations  
shown here are 1 week and 26, 60, 180, and 544 days in the future—the  
544-day expiry being the longest tenor available on the listed market.
Let’s first take a look at how the screen itself is set up without paying 
attention to the numbers listed.