MoneyGram versus Western Union

MoneyGram and Western Union both offer similar type of Cash Transfer Services to help you send money abroad. In both of these services, you pay and the person whom you are sending money picks it up from a convenient location which is already preselected by you at the time of scheduling the money transfer. This type of Money transfer is called Cash transfer. Western Union also offers some other types of money transfer (e.g. send money directly to a bank) but in this post I will only compare the cash transfer services of MoneyGram and Western Union.

Comparison of Western Union and MoneyGram

	Western Union	MoneyGram
Agent Locations	Western Union has over 300,000 agent locations worldwide	MoneyGram has over 100,00 agent locations worldwide.
Money Transfer Limit	You can send as much money as you want by Western Union.	MoneyGram allows you to send only $899 at a time.
From where can you send money?	You can send money from a variety of countries.	You can send money only from United States.
Fees and Rates	(see below)	(see below)

Remark: Even if Western Union has more agent locations it is possible that a MoneyGram location is more convenient for you. The best way is to go to Western Union Locations and MoneyGram Locations to find out more.

Comparison of Fees and Rates of Western Union and MoneyGram

Fees and Exchange Rates are perhaps the most important deciding factor when you are planning to make a choice between Western Union and Money Gram. Note that there is no simple answer to this. First you must remember that MoneyGram has two money sending options - Same Day service and Economy service. Money sent by Same day service of MoneyGram is usually available for pickup within hours while the economy service (which costs less) may take a couple of business days. I tried to compare fees for sending money from Western Union and Money gram to three countries and here is what I found.

1. Sending $500 to Cameroon - Western Union fees (from Kansas) are $39. While Moneygram fees are $31 for Same Day Service and $15 for Economy service.
2. Sending $500 to India - Western Union fees (from California) are $10 while Moneygram fees are also roughly the same for both services.
3. Sending $500 to Philippines - Western Union Fees (from California) are $12 while MoneyGram Fees are $28 for Same Day Service and $14.99 for Economy service.

No matter where you are sending money to, the above should make it clear there is no simple answer as to which is cheaper - MoneyGram or Western Union? The answer depends on where you are sending money, how much you are sending and the best way to find out the cheapest option for you is to go to the following

1. How to Find Western Union Money Transfer Fees?
2. MoneyGram Fees and Exchange Rates Calculator (on MoneyGram Homepage)
   

Articles on Western Union Money Transfer Western Union Rates, Fees, Locations. Comparison of Western Union and MoneyGram How to Send Money using Western Union? Western Union Philippines Articles on Money Transfer Send Money Overseas or Abroad: The most popular and best ways to send money to your home country. Xoom Money Transfer Review Ikobo Visa - A new way to send money abroad where you send a re-loadable visa card to the beneficiary. MoneyGram Money Transfer and Money Order service. Online Remittance to India SBI Remittance Review - My most preferred method of sending remitting money to India. Good exchange rates. Remit2India Options to Send money to India Send Money to India by Paypal HDFC QuickRemit

External Links

Western Union Money Transfer - A trusted way to send money where beneficiary collects cash from a Western Union location.

MoneyGram - International Money Transfer and Money Order. You send money, beneficiary collects cash from a chosen MoneyGram agent or location.

iKobo - Send Money Worldwide Money Transfer by ATM Card. Useful for those who have to send money frequently. Check foreign exchange rates on the homepage of iKobo.

Xoom Money Transfer - Online Remittance from United States to various other countries. Xoom Fees are around $8 per transaction.

Send Money to India

ICICI Remit to India Online Money Transfer to India. ICICI Exchange rates.

SBI Remittance Online Money Transfer to India. SBI exchange rates.

Remit2India Online Money Transfer to India. Remit2India exchange rates.

HDFC Quick Remit Remit Money to India online from U.S., U.K., Europe and Singapore. HDFC Quick Remit exchange rates.

CitiBank Online Remit Remit Money to India from US.

Disclaimer

I have been sending money to India for quite a few years. I have been involved in at least 50 money transfers to India and used 4 to 5 different methods of online remittance. Although I do make efforts to provide accurate information about services related to online remittance, none of the opinion, experience or reviews in this post should be used for making any decisions to remit money to India or any other country. It is easily possible that my experience or opinion about a particular remitting service is different from yours. It is your money that you want to remit. So please verify the information from your own authentic sources before making a choice for remitting your money. I do not accept any liability for incorrect or inaccurate information. Some of the links in the posts may be affiliate links, however the opinions and reviews presented in the post remain honest and unbiased.

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Out of the money stock Options are those which have no intrinsic value. Thus a Call Option is out of the money (OTM) if its strike price is greater than the current price of the underlying. A Put Option is out of the Money (OTM) if its strike price is lower than the current market price of the underlying.

There are three types of moneyness notions related to Options that an options trader must be aware of. In-the-money (ITM), At-the-money (ATM) and Out-of-the-money (OTM). If you are new to Options Trading, you might be interested in first reading my post on Options Examples.

The Intrinsic Value of an Option, is the value which an options trader would get if she were to exercise the option at that moment. Thus for a Call Option whose strike price is greater than the value of the underlying intrinsic value is zero. Otherwise the intrinsic value of a Call Option is defined to be

Intrinsic value of Call Option = Current Price of the underlying - Strike Price

For a Put Option whose strike price is lower than the current price of the underlying, the intrinsic value is zero. Otherwise Intrinsic Value of a Put Option is defined to be

Intrinsic value of Put Option = Strike Price - Current Price of the underlying

The remaining component of the option price is called the Time Premium or Extrinsic value.

Time Premium of an Option = Option Price - Intrinsic Value.

Options Greeks Option Greeks for Beginners (with free Options Calculator) Option Greek Delta and Delta Neutral Options Trading Strategy Option Greek Theta and its role in Options Trading Strategies Option Greek Vega and implied volatility Option Greek Rho - does it really matter in your Options Trading Strategies? Stock Market Derivatives: Futures, Options From Forward contract to Futures. Stock Futures example - Futures trading basics explained. Stock Options trading examples - Call Option Example and Put Option example. Covered Call and Covered Put - Simplest Options trading strategy. Volatility and Options Pricing - How is Option premium priced? Lot Size of a Derivatives Contract - Contract Unit Options Trading Basics In the Money Stock Options At the Money Stock Options Out of the Money Stock Options

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At the money stock options are those options whose strike price is very close to the current market price of the underlying.

There are three types of moneyness notions related to Options that an options trader must be aware of. In-the-money (ITM), At-the-money (ATM) and Out-of-the-money (OTM). If you are new to Options Trading, you might be interested in first reading my post on Options Examples.

To understand the concept of At the Money stock options, one has to first understand the notion of intrinsic value of an Option. The Intrinsic Value of an Option, is the value which an options trader would get if she were to exercise the option at that moment. Thus for a Call Option whose strike price is greater than the value of the underlying intrinsic value is zero. Otherwise the intrinsic value of a Call Option is defined to be

Intrinsic value of Call Option = Current Price of the underlying - Strike Price

For a Put Option whose strike price is lower than the current price of the underlying, the intrinsic value is zero. Otherwise Intrinsic Value of a Put Option is defined to be

Intrinsic value of Put Option = Strike Price - Current Price of the underlying

The remaining component of the option price is called the Time Premium or Extrinsic value.

Time Premium of an Option = Option Price - Intrinsic Value.

In the money options are those which have positive intrinsic value. Out of the money options have zero intrinsic value. While At the Money Options (ATM) have zero or nearly zero intrinsic value.

Options Greeks Option Greeks for Beginners (with free Options Calculator) Option Greek Delta and Delta Neutral Options Trading Strategy Option Greek Theta and its role in Options Trading Strategies Option Greek Vega and implied volatility Option Greek Rho - does it really matter in your Options Trading Strategies? Stock Market Derivatives: Futures, Options From Forward contract to Futures. Stock Futures example - Futures trading basics explained. Stock Options trading examples - Call Option Example and Put Option example. Covered Call and Covered Put - Simplest Options trading strategy. Volatility and Options Pricing - How is Option premium priced? Lot Size of a Derivatives Contract - Contract Unit Options Trading Basics In the Money Stock Options At the Money Stock Options Out of the Money Stock Options

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Options which have a positive 'intrinsic value' are called in the money options. In case of a Call Option, the option is in the money if the strike price of the option is less than the current market price of the underlying. In case of Put Options, the option is in the money if the strike price of the Option is greater than the current market price of the underlying. The concept of in the money stock options is easy and is best understood by an example.

Example of In the Money Call and Put Option - Suppose you buy a Call Option on a stock whose current value is Rs. 500. The strike price of the Option is Rs. 480. This means the call option gives you, the buyer of the Option, the right to buy one market lot of the stock at the price Rs. 480. Note that if you were to exercise your Option immediately, you would gain Rs. 20 per stock. Thus the intrinsic value of this call option is Rs. 20. The stock option you have purchased is in the money.

On the other hand if you had purchased a put option on this stock with strike price of Rs. 550, then the intrinsic value of that put option would be Rs. (550-500) = Rs. 50. This put option would be in the money. On the other hand a put option on the same stock with a strike price of Rs. 450 would not be 'in the money' because exercising it would not result in any profit.

Some Characteristics of In the Money Options

The following characteristics of In-the-money Options are worth remembering.

1. Deep in the Money Options - Options with very large intrinsic value are sometimes called deep in the money options. For a Call Option to be 'deep' in the money, the current price of the underlying has to be very large as compared to the strike price. For a put Option to be deep in the money the strike price has to be very large as compared to the current price of the underlying. Deep in the money options behave just like a future.
   
2. In the money options have a higher value of delta, i.e. the variation of their price per unit variation in the price of the underlying is high. For options which are deep in the money, delta is close to 1.

There are three types of moneyness notions related to Options that an options trader must be aware of. In-the-money (ITM), At-the-money (ATM) and Out-of-the-money (OTM). If you are new to Options Trading, you might be interested in first reading my post on Options Examples.

Options Greeks Option Greeks for Beginners (with free Options Calculator) Option Greek Delta and Delta Neutral Options Trading Strategy Option Greek Theta and its role in Options Trading Strategies Option Greek Vega and implied volatility Option Greek Rho - does it really matter in your Options Trading Strategies? Stock Market Derivatives: Futures, Options From Forward contract to Futures. Stock Futures example - Futures trading basics explained. Stock Options trading examples - Call Option Example and Put Option example. Covered Call and Covered Put - Simplest Options trading strategy. Volatility and Options Pricing - How is Option premium priced? Lot Size of a Derivatives Contract - Contract Unit Options Trading Basics In the Money Stock Options At the Money Stock Options Out of the Money Stock Options

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FBI Cracks HealthCare Scam and makes over 55 arrests.

A whopping $50 million Healthcare scam was cracked today in United States. Fifty Three people have been charged by for fraud in Medicare. Medicare is a Government insurance scheme designed to provide healthcare to the elderly and disabled. Arrests have been made in Florida, Michigan and Colorado. The people arrested include Medical staff, doctors and even patients. Read more about how the fraud or scam was carried out below.

More on the nature of HealthCare Scam

The typical method which are used create fraud in Healthcare is to generate 'fraudulent' healthcare bills where the a fake cases of medical treatment are shown on paper with no actual patient undergoing that treatment. The money for this 'fake' treatment' is then recovered from Health Insurance agencies or the Government. The above mentioned Healthcare was also carried out by a similar method where Medical Staff, doctors and patients were involved.

How do HealthCare Scams affect you?
HealthCare frauds related to Medicare like above are a direct loss to the Government and hence cost the taxpayer heavily. Although the above type of Healthcare frauds do not affect you directly, indirectly, as a taxpayer you are at a loss.

More information of Healthcare Scams on BBC.

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Options Calculator (link below)

The price of a Call or a Put Options is dependent on various factors. One of the factors is the strike price of the Option which remains constant till the Options contract expires. Other factors which may change during the Options lifetime are (1) Price of the underlying (2) Time remaining for the expiry of the Option (3) Implied Volatility of the Underlying (4) Risk Free Interest Rate. The effect of each of the above factor on Options Premium is described by Option Greeks - Delta, Theta, Vega and Rho respectively.

Download Free Options Greeks and Options Premium Calculator

The Price of an Option are Option Greeks are not easy to calculate by hand. The formula is complicated and for European style options (i.e. Options which can be exercised only on the expiry date) the formula's are given by Black and Scholes formula. You can also preview this Options Calculator by clicking on the Preview button below. This Options Calculator is free, elegant and easy to use.

Download Options Greek Calculator Excel Spreadsheet or Preview
(can be used to calculate Options Greeks Vega and also Options Premium, Option Greeks Theta, Delta and Rho).

Options Greeks Option Greeks for Beginners (with free Options Calculator) Option Greek Delta and Delta Neutral Options Trading Strategy Option Greek Theta and its role in Options Trading Strategies Option Greek Vega and implied volatility Option Greek Rho - does it really matter in your Options Trading Strategies? Stock Market Derivatives: Futures, Options From Forward contract to Futures. Stock Futures example - Futures trading basics explained. Stock Options trading examples - Call Option Example and Put Option example. Covered Call and Covered Put - Simplest Options trading strategy. Volatility and Options Pricing - How is Option premium priced? Lot Size of a Derivatives Contract - Contract Unit Options Trading Basics In the Money Stock Options At the Money Stock Options Out of the Money Stock Options

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There are four Options Greeks- Delta, Vega, Theta and Rho. Out of these four, I have already mentioned that rho is one which most of the investors can ignore most of the time. However the story of Vega is a bit different.

The Options Greek Vega is one of the most important but most ignored one. The concept of Vega is intimately tied to the concept of Implied volatility. This article is a bit long, but If you trade Options or plan to try your hands at Options strategies, read this entire article carefully to see how Options Greek Vega can impact your investments.

Definition: Vega is defined to be the change in the price of an option caused by 1% change in volatility.

There is a slight chance of confusion here, mainly because there are two notions of volatility.

Historic Volatility - This measures how much the underlying stock or index is likely to move in one year. The value of Historic Volatility is calculated using historic values of the underlying, hence the name. Example of Historic Volatility: If a stock has annualized volatility of 40%, then it means that based on the previous price movements of the stock, it seems likely that the stock price will move 40% (up or down) in a period of one year. Historic Volatility is used to calculate the theoretical price of a given Call or Put Option.

Implied Volatility - This is the market perception on how much the stock price is likely to move in a period of one year. How is this 'perception' or implied volatility calculated? The idea is simple. If the market expects a stock price to 'vary' a lot, the call and put options will become more 'expensive'. The exact value of implied volatility is calculated using the market price of Options. Remember that the theoretical value of Options Premium maybe different from the actual price of the Options begin traded in the stock exchange. The reason for this is precisely that theoretical value of Options is based on Historical Volatility. Market price of Options is based on Implied Volatility. An example would be: if quarterly results of a company are about to be declared, then investors may expect sharp movements in the stock price. As a result, for that period of time, the implied volatility of Options on that Stock may be significantly more than the historical value of volatility.

Market Perceptions about a stock or index can change depending upon changing economic conditions. These changes can also be quite sudden, usually due to announcements of new financial data or economic news. Hence the values of Implied Volatility are also vulnerable to sudden changes. How much will change in the (implied) volatility affect the price of the Option? Well, this is exactly the business of Options Greek Vega.

Important characteristic of Options Greek Vega

1. Vega is always positive for Call and Put Options. The reason for this is that increase in volatility leads to more uncertainty or risk for the writer of Call and Put Options. Hence the Options tend to become more expensive. In other words Vega is always positive.
2. The values of Vega are same for the Call and Put option with same strike price. In other words for a given strike price, both the call and put option prices will be affected in the same way by changes in Implied Volatility.
3. Values of Vega are largest for at the money options. As the strike price of the options gets farther away from the current price of the underlying, the option price is less influenced by changes in implied volatility. Thus deep in the money options and deep out of the money options have low values of Vega.
   
4. As the time remaining for expiry date of the Option decreases, the value of Vega decreases.
   

Caution: Vega can be used to calculate expected changes in the Options Price for small variations of the price of the underlying. For example, suppose a call option on a stock costs $5 and the implied volatility is 35%. Suppose the Vega of this particular Call Option is 0.45. In this case if the implied volatility of this stock increases from 35% to 37%, then you can roughly expect an increase of 2 x $0.45 = $0.90 in the price of the option. However if suppose in some situation, the implied volatility increases by a large amount, say 35% to 55%. Then the calculation of the expected change = 20 x $0.45 = $9 is a little less accurate. The reason for this is that the value of Vega itself changes as the implied volatility changes, thus for large variations the calculation is only approximate at best. However most the times, the variations are small and hence price change predictions from Vega Calculations are fairly accurate.

Top two Reasons why Options Greek Vega and implied volatility Cannot be ignored

Let me re-remind you by saying that Options Greek Vega is perhaps the most important and most ignored among the Options Greeks. However, understanding Vega can lead to better Options Trading Strategies and help you decide a better entry and exit point for taking positions in Options. Here are the top reasons why Vega is important or significant.

1. Values of Vega are usually large. Which means the price of the Option is significantly influenced even by small changes in values of implied volatility. This is one reason why Options Greek Vega cannot be ignored.
2. Implied Volatility and Covered Options Strategies : Values of implied volatility help you decide if an Option is cheap or expensive. For example, if the historic volatility of an underlying is say 30% and the implied volatility is at 40%, this means that Options are expensive. When values of implied volatility are high, it is worth finding out if there is a significant reason, for example quarter results announcement, or announcement of some financial news etc. There are situations when the volatility is higher but there is a 'preferred' direction for the price to move. For example, if is sudden enthusiasm in the market due to some positive financial news. In this case the Call Option will be a bit more expensive than usual, and writing a covered call is perhaps on of the best Options Strategies in such circumstances. In situations where Implied Volatility is higher but there is is no 'preferred direction' so to speak, writing covered Options is not a good idea.
   

How to Calculate Options Greek Vega?

The formula to calculate Options Greek Vega is a bit complicated. However the following Excel Spreadsheet Calculator can help you calculate the values of Vega and other Options Greeks (Theta, Delta, Rho) for European style Options using Black Scholes Options Pricing Model.

Download Options Greek Calculator Excel Spreadsheet or Preview
(can be used to calculate Options Greeks Vega and also Options Premium, Option Greeks Theta, Delta and Rho).

Options Greeks Option Greeks for Beginners (with free Options Calculator) Option Greek Delta and Delta Neutral Options Trading Strategy Option Greek Theta and its role in Options Trading Strategies Option Greek Vega and implied volatility Option Greek Rho - does it really matter in your Options Trading Strategies? Stock Market Derivatives: Futures, Options From Forward contract to Futures. Stock Futures example - Futures trading basics explained. Stock Options trading examples - Call Option Example and Put Option example. Covered Call and Covered Put - Simplest Options trading strategy. Volatility and Options Pricing - How is Option premium priced? Lot Size of a Derivatives Contract - Contract Unit Options Trading Basics In the Money Stock Options At the Money Stock Options Out of the Money Stock Options

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This is a continuation of series of posts on Option Greeks and Options trading strategies. Beginners may first be interested in reading Call and Put Options examples or Options Premium pricing.

Definition of Rho: Options Greek Rho of an option, is the change in the price of the option for 1% change in risk-free interest rate.

How does interest rate affect stock prices and price of an Option?

When I first learned about options and stock market, I had no idea how interest rates come into the picture when pricing stocks and stock market options. Let me deal only with Stock Options. Suppose you want to write a Call Option. Since most people do not write a naked call, lets say you want to write a Covered Call on a particular stock. What would you do? You buy one lot size or contract size of the underlying stock, and then write the covered call. When you buy the underlying, you are investing your money in it. You expectation of the returns from your investment are naturally governed by what the risk free interest rate is. For example, if anyway you can get risk free interest rate of 10% from you savings account, you would not invest in risky stock markets merely hoping for an 8% return on investment, would you? Thus higher the interest rate, more would you charge for your 'investment' made to write the covered call.

Some Characteristics of Options Greek Rho

The above logic also makes the following feature of Options Greek Rho clear.

1. Options Greek Rho is positive for Call Options.
2. Options Greek Rho is negative for Put Options.

There are other characteristics of Rho that are important.

1. The longer the expiration date of the Option, the higher the value of Rho. Thus Rho is more significant for Option Leaps than for Options with one month expiry.
2. Deep Out of the Money Options have lower value of Rho. While At the Money, and In the Money Options have a relatively higher value of Rho.
   

Does Rho really matter?

The question is, does rho really matter? You may have noticed that majority of the time, interest rates are more or less constant or show only a minor variation over a small period of time. So if you are dealing with Options with expiry date of one or two months, then I would say it is pretty much harmless to ignore Rho. Note that this does not apply to situations of unstable economies, e.g. recessions or high inflation periods where Governments may announce drastic economic policies to gain control of the situation. In such situations high changes in interest rates are likely.

The most important situation in which Rho matters is when dealing with Options of with expiry dates one or two years away or even more. Such Options with 'far away' expiry dates are sometimes called Options Leaps. While dealing with Options leaps, rho may become significant.

However, in my opinion, for most of the investor's Rho is the least significant among the four Options Greeks.

How to Calculate Options Greek Rho?

The formula to Calculate Options Greeks is a bit complicated. However you can download the following Options Greeks Calculator (Excel Spreadsheet Format) which uses Black-Scholes Method and is good for European style Options.

Download Options Greek Calculator Excel Spreadsheet or Preview
(can be used to calculate Options Greeks Theta, Delta, Vega, Rho and also Options Premium ).

Options Greeks Option Greeks for Beginners (with free Options Calculator) Option Greek Delta and Delta Neutral Options Trading Strategy Option Greek Theta and its role in Options Trading Strategies Option Greek Vega and implied volatility Option Greek Rho - does it really matter in your Options Trading Strategies? Stock Market Derivatives: Futures, Options From Forward contract to Futures. Stock Futures example - Futures trading basics explained. Stock Options trading examples - Call Option Example and Put Option example. Covered Call and Covered Put - Simplest Options trading strategy. Volatility and Options Pricing - How is Option premium priced? Lot Size of a Derivatives Contract - Contract Unit Options Trading Basics In the Money Stock Options At the Money Stock Options Out of the Money Stock Options

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This is a continuation of series of post on options trading. If you are new to Options trading you should first read my post on Options Trading Examples, Options Premium Price and Implied Volatility. Read a gentle introduction to Option Greeks first or directly jump to Option Greek Theta.

What are Options Greeks?

In order to understand Option greeks and in particular Option greek Theta, let us first recall how Options premium is calculated. In addition to risk free interest rate and strike price of the option, (which are constant till expiry) The price of an option or options premium is dependent on the following factors :

1. Price of the underlying.
   
2. Volatility of the underlying.
3. Time remaining for expiry.
   

Each of the above factors has a very specific impact on the price of the Options and this impact or influence is measured by Options Greeks. For example the influence of time remaining for expiry on the price of the option is measure by Option Greek Theta which will be discussed in this article.

What is Option Greek Theta?

As time remaining for expiry decreases, the price of the option decreases more or less in an exponential manner. This behavior is measured by Options Greek Theta. The formal definition of Theta is as follows:

Theta is the change in price of the option caused by one day. In other words Theta measures how fast the Options premium decays with time.

If the concept of theta is still not clear, then it is best understood by an example.

Example of Option Greek Theta: Suppose you buy a call option for price $2 for a particular stock whose current price is $50. The strike price of your option is $55. The number of days remaining for the expiry are 25 when you bought this option. The next day after you buy this call option you realise that the price of the underlying is still $50 but the price of the option you bought has decreased to $1.95. This is because as the expiry date approaches, the price of the option tends to decrease. In our example, everything else, in particular the stock price ($50) was constant. So the reduction in the option premium from $2 to $1.95 is purely due to decreasing of the time by one unit (or one day). Thus in this case theta of the option is $0.05. Had you known the theta of this option before, you would have been able to predict by how much the price of the option will decay as time passes.

Options Greek Theta is always negative !

This question has already been answered above. Options premium decreases as the number of days remaining for the expiry of the option decrease. This means Options Theta is always negative.

Options Greek Theta and Options trading strategies

The fact that Theta is negative can be exploited in options trading strategies. I will explain two options strategies which can be used effectively once you understand Options Greek Theta.

1. Simple Covered Options Strategy benefits from negative theta: I have already discussed covered call and covered put. Take for example Covered Call. The covered call writer always gains from the decay in the options premium due to negative value of theta. This is because lets say you write a covered call when you do not expect a significant up or down movement in the price of the underlying. After a few days, if according to your expectation the price of the underlying has not moved significantly in the downward direction, you can by simply squaring off your position because the price at which you wrote the call options will be higher than the price at which you will square it off. Thus Covered Call Strategy benefits even if the price of the underlying does not move. Similar statement holds for covered put options strategy. Remember that this fact is not visible from the standard graphs of covered call or covered put that people usually draw.
   
2. Writing Delta Neutral Options benefits from negative value of Theta : This is an options trading strategy based on the understanding of Options Greek Delta as well as Options greek theta. You write an out of the money call option and an out of the money put option. The Option strike prices are chosen in such a way that their 'Option Greek Delta' are the same. Thus if the price of the underlying moves up the price of the Call Option you wrote will increase. But not to worry, since you wrote a carefully chosen Put Option, the price of the Put Option will decrease by approximately the same amount. The benefit of this Options Strategy is that if you write it when you do not expect large movements in the price of the underlying, you make profit by squaring off after a few days. Because small movements do not influence any net increase in the price of options you wrote and as time passes, the sum total of the price of Options written by you decreases due to time decay.
   This strategy should not be used in unstable markets where large movements in price are likely.
   

How to Calculate Options Greek Theta?

The formula to Calculate Options Greeks is a bit complicated. However you can download the following Options Greeks Calculator (Excel Spreadsheet Format) which uses Black-Scholes Method and is good for European style Options.

Download Options Greek Calculator Excel Spreadsheet or Preview
(can be used to calculate Options Greeks Theta, Delta, Vega, Rho and also Options Premium ).

Options Greeks Option Greeks for Beginners (with free Options Calculator) Option Greek Delta and Delta Neutral Options Trading Strategy Option Greek Theta and its role in Options Trading Strategies Option Greek Vega and implied volatility Option Greek Rho - does it really matter in your Options Trading Strategies? Stock Market Derivatives: Futures, Options From Forward contract to Futures. Stock Futures example - Futures trading basics explained. Stock Options trading examples - Call Option Example and Put Option example. Covered Call and Covered Put - Simplest Options trading strategy. Volatility and Options Pricing - How is Option premium priced? Lot Size of a Derivatives Contract - Contract Unit Options Trading Basics In the Money Stock Options At the Money Stock Options Out of the Money Stock Options

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