A Cheap And Safe Way To Own Facebook With Synthetic Stock And A Married Put

[OlmsteadOptions 10]

Dr. Edward Olmstead, Professor, Northwestern University

Chief Options Strategist, Dr. Olmstead’s Options Trading Strategies

 

 

There continues to be considerable interest in owning the stock of Facebook (FB) even though its performance has been a disappointment since its IPO in May. At its current level of $20.40, it might be a bargain, but it could also continue lower before it finds some significant support. Here is a cheap and safe way to own FB into January 2013 (and possibly beyond).

 

This cheap and safe way to own FB into the beginning of 2013 uses a combination of options. Instead of buying the stock, a call option will used as a synthetic version of the stock that costs less than $6 per share while providing over 80% of the FB price movement. To protect the synthetic stock, a married put option will be used to limit loss in case the stock continues to move lower. Finally, the cost of the married put will be substantially reduced by selling a near-term strangle.

 

Here are the details of the trade base upon a one contract position (100 shares): Buy 1 Jan (2013)16 call for $5.70 per share. Buy 1 Jan (2013) 20 put for $3.20 per share. To reduce the cost of the put, sell 1 Sept 22 call for $.90 per share and sell 1 Sept 18 put for $.70 a share.

 

At the September expiration date (9/20), this trade will show a small profit if FB is trading between $18 and $26. After the September expiration date, this trade has the potential for unlimited profit with a maximum risk at the January expiration of only $3.30 per share. Actually, the maximum risk is less than $2.00 per share prior to the beginning of December.

 

When the January expiration date is reached, you can continue following FB by repeating the synthetic stock/married put trade for another 5-6 months. You would also have the choice of buying FB stock for $16 per share.

 

 

 

Dr. Olmstead can be found at http://www.olmsteadoptions.com, an on-line options trading site, centered around options education material and option trading strategies he’s developed. He is Professor of Applied Mathematics at Northwestern University, author of the popular and highly-praised options book, Options for the Beginner and Beyond (2006) and former chief strategist for The Options Professor on-line newsletter, distributed by Zacks.com and Forbes.com.