Selling a spread

This one is not written up yet

The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.

Written up from the same chapter

• BasisThe difference between the spot price and the futures price of an asset — positive when spot exceeds futures, negative when futures exceeds spot, and zero at expiry.
• Basis riskThe risk left over after hedging, because the exposure and the contract used to hedge it do not move identically — in size, in expiry date, or in what they are written on.
• Diagonal spreadTwo options of the same type on the same underlying with both a different strike and a different expiry — the most complicated of the three spread families, and the only one that varies on both axes.
• HedgingTaking a derivative position that moves opposite to an exposure you already have, so gains on one offset losses on the other and the future rate is locked in at a known level.
• Horizontal spreadTwo options of the same type and the same strike but different expiries — a position whose entire value is the difference between the two legs' time values, not a view on direction.
• Long straddleBuying a call and a put at the same strike and the same expiry — a bet that the underlying moves a long way in either direction, with two break-even points and a maximum loss equal to both premiums.