This options trading guide focuses on what call options are and how this bullish strategy plays out on the chart.
We explain the potential upsides and downsides of call options as a risk-defined instrument using examples throughout the guide.
Want to get started option trading, and just looking for which brokers are available in ? Have a look at these first:
Disclaimer: Availability subject to regulations.
Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
Contents
Read on to find out how to trade call options and how you can calculate potential call options profits and losses prior to trading live on a stock or commodity.
What Is A Call Option?
Buying call options is a bullish strategy using leverage and is a risk-defined alternative to buying stock.
Call options assume that the trader expects an increase in stock price following the purchase of the options contract.
For the trader to profit, the stock price has to increase more than the strike price and the options premium combined.
How Do Call Options Work?
Here’s an example of buying a call option:
- A trader is very bullish on stock XYZ trading at $50.
- The trader is either risk-averse, wanting to know beforehand their maximum loss, or wants greater leverage than simply owning shares of XYZ.
- The trader expects XYZ to move above $53.10 per share in the next 30 days.
- The trader selects the $52.50 call option strike price which is trading for $0.60.
- For this example, the trader will buy only 1 option contract (Note: 1 contract is for 100 shares) so the total cost will be $60 ($0.60 x 100 shares/contract).
Please note, this is an example – not a recommendation.
This graph shows the hypothetical stock as per the above example:
There are numerous reasons to be bullish: the price chart shows very bullish action (stock is moving upwards).
The trader might have used other indicators like MACD, Stochastics, or another technical or fundamental reason for being bullish on the stock.
Call Options Have Clearly Defined Risk
When a call option is purchased, the trader instantly knows the maximum amount of money they can possibly lose.
The max loss is always the premium paid to own the option contract; in this example, $60.
Whether the stock falls to $5 or $50 a share, the call option holder will only lose the amount they paid for the option. This is the risk-defined benefit often discussed about as a reason to trade options.
A Dangerous Pro: Leverages On Call Options
The other benefit is leverage. When a stock price is above its breakeven point (in this example, $53.10) the option contract at the expiration date acts exactly like stock.
To illustrate, if 100 shares of the stock move $1, then the trader would profit $100 ($1 x $100).
Likewise, above $53.10, the call options breakeven point, if the stock moved $1, then the option contract would move $1, thus making $100 ($1 x $100) as well.
Remember, to buy the stock, the trader would have had to put up $5,000 ($50/share x 100 shares). The trader in this example only paid $60 for the call option.
Are Call Options Complicated?
The important part about selecting an option and option strike price is the trader’s exact expectations for the future.
If the trader expects the stock to move higher, but only $1 higher, then buying the $52.50 strike price would be foolish.
This is because at the expiration date, if the stock price is anywhere below $52.50, whether it be $20 or $52.49, the call option will expire worthless.
If a trader was correct in their prediction that the stock would move higher by $1, they would still have lost.
More Factors To Consider Than Traditional Stock Trading
Likewise, if the stock moved to $53 the day after the call option expired, the trader still would have lost all their premium paid for the option.
When buying call options, you need to predict the correct direction of stock movement, the size of the stock movement, and the time period the stock movement will occur.
This is more complicated than stock buying when all a person is doing is predicting the correct direction of a stock move.
How To Calculate Call Options Profits
The following is the profit/loss graph at expiration for the call option in the example given on the previous page.
How To Calculate Profit In Call Options
To calculate profits or losses on a call option use the following simple formula:
- Call Option Profit/Loss = Stock Price at Expiration – Breakeven Point
For every dollar the stock price rises once the $53.10 breakeven barrier has been surpassed, there is a dollar for dollar profit for the options contract.
So if the stock gains $5.00 to $55.00 by the expiration date, the owner of the the call option would make $1.90 per share ($55.00 stock price – $53.10 breakeven stock price).
So total, the trader would have made $190 ($1.90 x 100 shares/contract).
How To Find Your Break-even In Call Options
The breakeven point is quite easy to calculate for a call option:
- Breakeven Stock Price = Call Option Strike Price + Premium Paid
To illustrate, the trader purchased the $52.50 strike price call option for $0.60. Therefore, $52.50 + $0.60 = $53.10.
The trader will breakeven, excluding commissions/slippage, if the stock reaches $53.10 by expiration.
How To Calculate Call Options Losses
If the stock price increased by $2.75 to close at $52.75 by expiration, the options trader would lose money.
For this example, the trader would have lost $0.35 per contract ($52.75 stock price – $53.10 breakeven stock price). Therefore, the hypothetical trader would have a partial loss of $35 (-$0.35 x 100 shares/contract).
To summarize, in this partial loss example, the option trader bought a call option because they thought that the stock was going to rise.
The trader was right, the stock did rise by $2.75, however, the trader was not right enough. The stock needed to move higher by at least $3.10 to $53.10 to breakeven or make money.
What About Complete Loss?
If the stock did not move higher than the strike price of the option contract by expiration, the options trader would lose their entire premium — that’s $0.60 per share.
Likewise, if the stock moved down, irrelavent by how much it moved downward, then the option trader would still lose the $0.60 paid for the option.
In either of those two circumstances, the trader would have lost $60 (-$0.60 x 100 shares/contract).
Only The Premium Is Lost
Again, this is where the limited risk part of option buying comes in: the stock could have dropped 20 points, but the option contract owner would still only lose their premium paid, in this case $0.60.
Buying call options has many positive benefits like defined-risk and leverage, but like everything else, it has its downside, which is explored on the next page.
What Are The Downsides Of Call Options?
Take another look at this call option profit/loss graph.
This time, think about how far away from the current stock price of $50, the breakeven price of $53.10 is.
Call Option Profits Depend On Significant Bull Runs
Putting percentages to the breakeven number, breakeven is a 6.2% move higher in only 30 days. That sized movement is possible, but highly unlikely in only 30 days.
Plus, the stock has to move more than that 6.2% to even start to make a cent of profit, profit being the whole purpose of entering into a trade.
To begin with, a comparison of buying 100 shares outright and buying 1 call option contract ($52.50 strike price) will be given:
- 100 shares: $50 x 100 shares = $5,000
- 1 call option: $0.60 x 100 shares/contract = $60; keeps the rest ($4,940) in savings.
How Much Does The Stock Need To Move?
If the stock moves 2% in the next 30 days, the shareholder makes $100; the call option holder loses $60:
- Shareholder: Gains $100 or 2%
- Option Holder: Loses $60 or 1.2% of total capital
If the stock moves 5% in the following 30 days:
- Shareholder: Gains $250 or 5%
- Option Holder: Loses $60 or 1.2%
Where Do Profits Begin?
If the stock moves 8% over the next 30 days, the option holder finally begins to make money:
- Shareholder: Gains $400 or 8%
- Option Holder: Gains $90 or 1.8%
It’s fair to say, that buying out-of-the-money (OTM) call options and hoping for a larger than 6.2% move higher in the stock is going to result in numerous times when the trader’s call options will expire worthless.
However, the benefit of buying call options to preserve capital does have merit.
Call Options Risk Capital Preservation
Substantial losses can be incredibly devastating. For an extreme example, a 50% loss means a trader has to make 100% profit on their next trade in order to breakeven.
Buying call options and continuing the prior examples, a trader is only risking a small 1.2% of capital for each trade.
This prevents the trader from incurring a single substantial loss, which is a real reality when stock trading.
Stock Losses vs. Option Losses
For example, a simple small loss of 5% is easier to take for an option call holder than a shareholder:
- Shareholder: Loses $250 or 5%
- Option Holder: Loses $60 or 1.2%
For a catastrophic 20% loss things get much worse for the stockholder:
- Shareholder: Loses $1,000 or 20%
- Option Holder: Loses $60 or 1.2%
In the case of the 20% loss, the option holder can strike out for over 16 months and still not lose as much as the stockholder.
Moreover, the stockholder now has to make over 25% on their stock purchases to bring their capital back to their previous $5,000 level.
Important: This is not investment advice. We present a number of common arguments for and against investing in this commodity. Please seek professional advice before making investment decisions.
Where Can I Start Trading Options?
If you are interested in trading options on commodities and other financial products look at our reviews of these regulated brokers available in :
Brokers Available in
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74%-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Also see our guide to choosing an online options broker.
Further Reading
For additional options types and options strategy guides, see:
- Put Option – Puts are a risk defined alternative to shorting stock, puts max leverage and minimize risk
- Bull Call Spread – A risk defined and reward defined alternative to buying call options.
- Bear Put Spread – A cheaper alternative to buying put options outright, however, defines max reward.
Traders who want to build an options strategy may find technical analysis guides on relative strength index (RSI), volume indicators, and moving average convergence divergence (MACD) index useful.
If options trading isn’t for you, see our guides on other instruments like CFDs, forex, cryptocurrencies, stocks, and bullions.
