Friday, June 18, 2010

When is theta positive?

Considering European options, theta may be positive
- for deep in-the-money call on an underlying that pays high dividend
- for deep in-the-money put on non-dividend paying underlying

Note the asymmetry between call and put. The max. payoff of a call is unlimited while the max. payoff of a put is capped at K. Hence if you are holding a put which is already reeeeeeally in-the-money, then all you wish is for time to pass quickly because allowing the stock to have more time to diffuse can be bad for you.

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