Reference

Glossary

Every term used on this site, defined plainly in one place. For a guided walkthrough instead, see the tutorial.

Options basics

Premium: The price a buyer pays (and a seller receives) for one option contract.
Strike price: The fixed price per share at which the stock may be bought or sold if the option is exercised.
Expiration: The last date the contract is valid. After this date, it either gets exercised, assigned, or expires worthless.
1 contract: Represents 100 shares of the underlying stock, unless otherwise noted.
Moneyness: Where the stock price sits relative to the strike — in-the-money (ITM), at-the-money (ATM), or out-of-the-money (OTM).
Exercise: When an option's buyer uses their right to buy (call) or sell (put) the stock at the strike price.
Assignment: What happens to the seller of an option when the buyer exercises it — they're obligated to fulfill the contract.
Credit / debit: A credit trade collects money up front (you're a net seller). A debit trade pays money up front (you're a net buyer).

Delta: How much an option's value changes per $1 move in the stock. Also a rough (not exact) proxy for the odds of finishing in the money.
Gamma: How much delta itself changes per $1 move in the stock — the rate of change of the rate of change.
Theta: How much value an option loses per day from time passing alone, all else equal. Negative for buyers, positive for sellers.
Vega: How much an option's value changes for a 1-point move in implied volatility.

Implied volatility (IV): The market's forecast, baked into an option's price, for how much the stock will move before expiration.
Historical / realized volatility (HV): How much the stock has actually moved recently, measured from its own price history — not a forecast, a fact.
IV rank: Where today's implied volatility sits relative to its own recent range — near the top (expensive) or bottom (cheap) of where it's typically been.
Live vs. estimated: "Live" means a number came from a real, current market quote. "Estimated" means no usable live quote existed, so it was derived from recent price history instead — this site labels the difference rather than blur it.

Breakeven: The stock price at expiration where the trade neither makes nor loses money.
Chance of profit: Estimated from delta — roughly the odds the position finishes in the money. Not the same as a guaranteed probability.
Capital required: What the trade ties up: premium paid for a debit trade, cash reserved for a cash-secured put, or the value of shares already held for a covered call or collar.
Conviction score: A weighted score (not a guarantee) combining whether the trend agrees with the idea's direction, whether IV rank favors this structure, how liquid the contracts are, and whether earnings fall inside the trade's life.
Open interest: How many contracts at that strike are currently open (not yet closed or expired) — a rough proxy for how easy the contract is to trade.