36 lines
1.7 KiB
Plaintext
36 lines
1.7 KiB
Plaintext
Chapter 34: Futures and Futures Options
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TABLE 34-1.
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Month symbols for futures or futures options.
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Futures or Futures Options
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Expiration Month Month Symbol
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January F
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February G
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March H
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April J
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May K
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June M
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July N
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August Q
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September u
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October V
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November X
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December z
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665
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Bid-Offer Spread. The actual markets - bids and offers - for most futures
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options are not generally available from quote vendors ( options traded on the
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Chicago Mere are usually a pleasant exception). The same is true for futures con
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tracts themselves. One can always request a ~rket from the trading floor, but that
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is a time-consuming process and is impractic!al if one is attempting to analyze a large
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number of options. Strategists who are used to dealing in stock or index options will
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find this to be a major inconvenience. The situation has persisted for years and shows
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no sign of improving.
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Commissions. Futures traders generally pay a commission only on the closing
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side of a trade. If a speculator first buys gold futures, he pays no commission at that
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time. Later, when he sells what he is long - closes his position - he is charged a com
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mission. This is referred to as a "round-tum" commission, for obvious reasons. Many
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futures brokerage firms treat future options the same way - with a round-tum com
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mission. Stock option traders are used to paying a commission on every buy and sell,
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and there are still a few futures option brokers who treat futures options that way,
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too. This is an important difference. Consider the following example.
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Example: A futures option trader has been paying a commission of $15 per side -
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that is, he pays a commission of $15 per contract each time he buys and sells. His bro- |