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call option

call option

2 7.7
A contract that lets someone choose to buy something of value at a set price for a limited time
  • noun
  • /kɔl ˈɑpʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : opción de compra
  • He explained how a call option gives the buyer the right to purchase an asset at a set price before the expiration date.
  • payoff on a call option
  • call option on a stock
  • call option value

Now there are two types of options, call options and put options.

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Examples

  • When investing, many traders purchase a call option to potentially profit from an anticipated rise in stock prices.

  • Stockholders essentially have a call option on the business.

    Blog text (30)
  • OK, so this is the call option price, right?

  • If you buy a call option and the stock goes up, you will make hundreds of percent.

  • Now there are two types of options, call options and put options.

  • And now everyone is talking about call options.

  • However, the price of the call option is constantly changing.

  • In essence, the company bought a portfolio of call options which later allowed it to expand into new technology when necessary.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Since a call option's value increases with the value of the underlying asset, a profitable call option is highly valuable and thus worth creating.

    Academic text (1991)
  • I'm buying call options.

Synonyms

option
vscall option
  • Specialized
256 7.4

A right to buy or sell something at a set price before a set time

limits the right to buy and does not include selling rights
call
vscall option
  • Specialized
42 8.1

A demand for payment, or the right to buy something at a set price

is the specific contract granting a timed right to buy assets
stock option
vscall option
  • Specialized
32 4.8

A right to buy company shares later at a fixed price, often given to employees

is broader, covering rights to buy any asset not only company shares

Antonyms

put option
  • Specialized
3 8.3

A contract that gives you the choice to sell an investment at a fixed price within a set time

How Directional

call option
  • Specialized
2 7.7
strangle
  • Specialized
2 9.9
straddle
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Surface Forms

call option singular
call options plural

Morphology

call + option

The noun 'option' already signals a financial right to buy or sell, so the phrase is partly compositional (a type of option). However, the specialized financial sense of 'call' meaning 'the right to buy' is not predictable from general meanings of 'call' and is jargon-specific, so a B1 learner who only knows the ordinary meanings of the constituents would likely not infer the exact contractual meaning without exposure.

Etymology

Call option comes from the words call and option. Imagine a ticket that lets you call, meaning 'ask for', a share at a fixed price before a certain day. Because option means you can choose to use the ticket or not, a call option is 'a contract that gives the buyer the 'right' to 'buy' an asset at a set price within a time period'.