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78-441: The term "poison pill" is also used colloquially for a policy or legal action set up by an institution that has fatal or highly unpleasant consequences for that institution if a certain event occurs. Examples are the poison pill shareholders rights amendments inserted in corporate charters as a takeover defence, and wrecking amendments added to legislative bills. During World War II , British and American secret services developed

156-416: A poison pill physically carried by various spies throughout history, a pill which was taken by the spies if they were discovered to eliminate the possibility of being interrogated by an enemy. It was reported in 2001 that since 1997, for every company with a poison pill which successfully resisted a hostile takeover, there were 20 companies with poison pills that accepted takeover offers. The trend since

234-417: A proxy fight or other takeover attempts not accompanied by an acquisition of a significant block of the company's stock. It can, however, prevent shareholders from entering into certain agreements that can assist in a proxy fight, such as an agreement to pay another shareholder's expenses. In combination with a staggered board of directors , however, a shareholder rights plan can be a defense. The goal of

312-421: A " poison pill ", is a type of defensive tactic used by a corporation 's board of directors against a takeover . In the field of mergers and acquisitions , shareholder rights plans were devised in the early 1980s as a way to prevent takeover bids by taking away a shareholder's right to negotiate a price for the sale of shares directly. Typically, such a plan gives shareholders the right to buy more shares at

390-414: A developer pays for the right to buy several adjacent plots, but is not obligated to buy these plots and might not unless they can buy all the plots in the entire parcel. Additionally, purchase of real property, like houses, requires a buyer paying the seller into an escrow account an earnest payment , which offers the buyer the right to buy the property at the set terms, including the purchase price. In

468-416: A discount if one shareholder buys a certain percentage or more of the company's shares. The plan could be triggered, for instance, if any one shareholder buys 20% of the company's shares, at which point every other shareholder will have the right to buy a new issue of shares at a discount. If all other shareholders are able to buy more shares at a discount, such purchases would dilute the bidder's interest, and

546-548: A hostile bid from Xstrata plc, which was a 20% shareholder of Falconbridge. Xstrata applied to have Falconbridge's pill invalidated, citing among other things that the Falconbridge had had its pill in place without shareholder approval for more than nine months and that the pill stood in the way of Falconbridge shareholders accepting Xstrata's all-cash offer for Falconbridge shares. Despite similar facts with previous cases in which securities regulators had promptly taken down pills,

624-455: A much higher price than he paid for his 'option'. The 1688 book Confusion of Confusions describes the trading of " opsies " on the Amsterdam stock exchange (now Euronext ), explaining that "there will be only limited risks to you, while the gain may surpass all your imaginings and hopes." In London, puts and "refusals" (calls) first became well-known trading instruments in the 1690s during

702-635: A new board's decision to sell a company. The legality of poison pills had been unclear when they were first put to use in the early 1980s. However, the Delaware Supreme Court upheld poison pills as a valid instrument of takeover defense in its 1985 decision in Moran v. Household International, Inc. However, many jurisdictions other than the U.S. have held the poison pill strategy as illegal, or place restraints on their use. In Canada, almost all shareholders rights plans are "chewable," meaning they contain

780-449: A permitted bid concept such that a bidder who is willing to conform to the requirements of a permitted bid can acquire the company by take-over bid without triggering a flip-in event. Shareholder rights plans in Canada are also weakened by the ability of a hostile acquirer to petition the provincial securities regulators to have the company's pill overturned. Generally, the courts will overturn

858-418: A previously-purchased long stock position), and buys a put. This strategy acts as an insurance when investing long on the underlying stock, hedging the investor's potential losses, but also shrinking an otherwise larger profit, if just purchasing the stock without the put. The maximum profit of a protective put is theoretically unlimited as the strategy involves being long on the underlying stock. The maximum loss

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936-421: A put and a call at the same exercise price) would give a trader a greater profit than a butterfly if the final stock price is near the exercise price, but might result in a large loss. Similar to the straddle is the strangle which is also constructed by a call and a put, but whose strikes are different, reducing the net debit of the trade, but also reducing the risk of loss in the trade. One well-known strategy

1014-401: A refund of between two and five times the fees they had paid for their PeopleSoft software licenses. While the acquisition ultimately prevailed, the hypothetical cost to Oracle was valued at as much as US$ 1.5 billion. In a voting plan , a company will charter preferred stock with superior voting rights over that of common shareholders. If an unfriendly bidder acquired a substantial quantity of

1092-433: A shareholder rights plan is to force a bidder to negotiate with the target's board and not directly with the shareholders. The effects are twofold: The target issues a large number of new shares, often preferred shares , to existing shareholders. These new shares usually have severe redemption provisions, such as allowing them to be converted into a large number of common shares if a takeover occurs. This immediately dilutes

1170-489: A specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date , depending on the style of the option. Options are typically acquired by purchase, as a form of compensation, or as part of a complex financial transaction. Thus, they are also a form of asset (or contingent liability) and have a valuation that may depend on a complex relationship between underlying asset price, time until expiration, market volatility ,

1248-430: A specified date, depending on the form of the option. Selling or exercising an option before expiry typically requires a buyer to pick the contract up at the agreed upon price. The strike price may be set by reference to the spot price (market price) of the underlying security or commodity on the day an option is issued, or it may be fixed at a discount or at a premium. The issuer has the corresponding obligation to fulfill

1326-409: A standardized form and traded through clearing houses on regulated options exchanges . In contrast, other over-the-counter options are written as bilateral, customized contracts between a single buyer and seller, one or both of which may be a dealer or market-maker. Options are part of a larger class of financial instruments known as derivative products , or simply, derivatives. A financial option

1404-515: A suicide pill is a form of risk arbitrage used by corporations to suicide during hostile takeover attempts. As an extreme version of the poison pill defense, this crippling provision refers to any technique used by a target firm in which takeover protection could result in self-destruction. Variations of the suicide pill include the Jonestown Defense , the Scorched-earth defense , and

1482-589: A tiny saxitoxin-impregnated needle hidden inside a fake silver dollar was issued to Francis Gary Powers , an American U-2 pilot who was shot down while flying over the USSR in May 1960. According to Former CIA Chief of Disguise Jonna Mendez , the CIA hid poison pills in a number of items, including the caps of pens and the frames of glasses. Operatives would bite down, and the poison concealed inside would be released. In economics,

1560-399: A trader to profit if the stock price on the expiration date is near the middle exercise price, X2, and does not expose the trader to a large loss. A condor is a strategy similar to a butterfly spread, but with different strikes for the short options – offering a larger likelihood of profit but with a lower net credit compared to the butterfly spread. Selling a straddle (selling both

1638-420: Is 10, then a spot price between 90 and 100 is not profitable. The trader makes a profit only if the spot price is below 90. The trader exercising a put option on a stock does not need to own the underlying asset, because most stocks can be shorted . A trader who expects a stock's price to decrease can sell the stock short or instead sell, or "write", a call. The trader selling a call has an obligation to sell

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1716-443: Is a contract between two counterparties with the terms of the option specified in a term sheet . Option contracts may be quite complicated; however, at minimum, they usually contain the following specifications: Exchange-traded options (also called "listed options") are a class of exchange-traded derivatives . Exchange-traded options have standardized contracts and are settled through a clearing house with fulfillment guaranteed by

1794-609: Is limited to the purchase price of the underlying stock less the strike price of the put option and the premium paid. A protective put is also known as a married put. Options can be classified in a few ways. Another important class of options, particularly in the U.S., are employee stock options , which a company awards to their employees as a form of incentive compensation. Other types of options exist in many financial contracts. For example real estate options are often used to assemble large parcels of land, and prepayment options are usually included in mortgage loans . However, many of

1872-416: Is lower than the exercise price, the holder of the option at that time will let the call contract expire and lose only the premium (or the price paid on transfer). A trader who expects a stock's price to decrease can buy a put option to sell the stock at a fixed price (strike price) at a later date. The trader is not obligated to sell the stock, but has the right to do so on or before the expiration date. If

1950-456: Is the Black–Scholes model . More sophisticated models are used to model the volatility smile . These models are implemented using a variety of numerical techniques. In general, standard option valuation models depend on the following factors: More advanced models can require additional factors, such as an estimate of how volatility changes over time and for various underlying price levels, or

2028-429: Is the covered call , in which a trader buys a stock (or holds a previously purchased stock position), and sells a call. (This can be contrasted with a naked call . See also naked put .) If the stock price rises above the exercise price, the call will be exercised and the trader will get a fixed profit. If the stock price falls, the call will not be exercised, and any loss incurred to the trader will be partially offset by

2106-487: The Heston model where volatility itself is considered stochastic . See Asset pricing for a listing of the various models here. In its most basic terms, the value of an option is commonly decomposed into two parts: As above, the value of the option is estimated using a variety of quantitative techniques, all based on the principle of risk-neutral pricing and using stochastic calculus in their solution. The most basic model

2184-530: The Ontario Securities Commission ruled that Falconbridge's pill could remain in place for a further limited period as it had the effect of sustaining the auction for Falconbridge by preventing Xstrata increasing its ownership and potentially obtaining a blocking position that would prevent other bidders from obtaining 100% of the shares. In the United Kingdom, poison pills are not allowed under

2262-492: The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). Since the contracts are standardized, accurate pricing models are often available. Exchange-traded options include: Over-the-counter options (OTC options, also called "dealer options") are traded between two private parties and are not listed on an exchange. The terms of an OTC option are unrestricted and may be individually tailored to meet any business need. In general,

2340-700: The Swedish Central Bank 's associated Prize for Achievement in Economics (a.k.a., the Nobel Prize in Economics), the application of the model in actual options trading is clumsy because of the assumptions of continuous trading, constant volatility, and a constant interest rate. Nevertheless, the Black–Scholes model is still one of the most important methods and foundations for the existing financial market in which

2418-534: The Takeover Panel rules. The rights of public shareholders are protected by the Panel on a case-by-case, principles-based regulatory regime. Raids have helped bidders win targets such as BAA plc and AWG plc when other bidders were considering emerging at higher prices. If these companies had poison pills, they could have prevented the raids by threatening to dilute the positions of their hostile suitors if they exceeded

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2496-413: The golden parachute . One urban legend suggests that American astronauts could carry suicide pills in case they are unable to return to Earth. It is possible this myth was started by the movie Contact in a scene where the main character is given suicide pills in case she cannot get back to Earth. This was disputed by astronaut Jim Lovell , who co-wrote Lost Moon (later renamed Apollo 13 ). On

2574-480: The "L-pill" (lethal pill) which was given to agents going behind enemy lines. It was an oval capsule, approximately the size of a pea , consisting of a thin-walled glass ampoule covered in brown rubber to protect against accidental breakage and filled with a concentrated solution of potassium cyanide . To use, the agent bites down on the pill, crushing the ampoule to release the fast-acting poison. Heartbeat quickly stops and brain death occurs within minutes. After

2652-560: The DVD director's commentary, it was asserted that because marooned astronauts could easily commit suicide by simply venting the air from their spacecraft or suits, such a pill would not likely be necessary. Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov stated that the Soviet space program gave him a suicide pill for use if he could not reenter Voskhod 2 after his March 1965 spacewalk . Shareholder rights plan A shareholder rights plan , colloquially known as

2730-675: The LSE. Takeover law is still evolving in continental Europe, as individual countries slowly fall in line with requirements mandated by the European Commission . Stakebuilding is commonplace in many continental takeover battles such as Scania AB . Formal poison pills are quite rare in continental Europe, but national governments hold golden shares in many "strategic" companies such as telecom monopolies and energy companies. Governments have also served as "poison pills" by threatening potential suitors with negative regulatory developments if they pursue

2808-409: The acquirer's shares after the merger at a discounted rate. For example, a shareholder may gain the right to buy the stock of its acquirer, in subsequent mergers, at a two-for-one rate. Under this scenario, the target company re-phases all its employees' stock-option grants to ensure they immediately become vested if the company is taken over. Many employees can then exercise their options and then dump

2886-528: The amount of the premium. If the stock price at expiration is below the strike price by more than the amount of the premium, the trader loses money, with the potential loss being up to the strike price minus the premium. A benchmark index for the performance of a cash-secured short put option position is the CBOE S&;P 500 PutWrite Index (ticker PUT). Combining any of the four basic kinds of option trades (possibly with different exercise prices and maturities) and

2964-406: The bid after Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang threatened to make the takeover as difficult as possible unless Microsoft raised the price to US$ 37 per share. One Microsoft executive commented, "They are going to burn the furniture if we go hostile. They are going to destroy the place." Yahoo has had a shareholders rights plan in place since 2001. Analysts suggested that Microsoft's raised offer of $ 33 per share

3042-399: The board or by acquiring a controlling block of shares and using the associated votes to get elected to the board. Once in control of the board, the bidder can manage the target. Currently, the most common type of takeover defense is a shareholder rights plan. Because the board of directors of the company can redeem or otherwise eliminate a standard poison pill, it does not typically preclude

3120-457: The board. The poison pill was invented by mergers and acquisitions lawyer Martin Lipton of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 1982, as a response to tender-based hostile takeovers . Poison pills became popular during the early 1980s in response to the wave of takeovers by corporate raiders such as T. Boone Pickens and Carl Icahn . The term "poison pill" derives its original meaning from

3198-413: The buyer may pay a premium to the issuer for the option. A call option would normally be exercised only when the strike price is below the market value of the underlying asset, while a put option would normally be exercised only when the strike price is above the market value. When an option is exercised, the cost to the option holder is the strike price of the asset acquired plus the premium, if any, paid to

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3276-528: The buyer's option, or may be called (bought back) at specified prices at the issuer's option. Mortgage borrowers have long had the option to repay the loan early, which corresponds to a callable bond option. Options contracts have been known for decades. The Chicago Board Options Exchange was established in 1973, which set up a regime using standardized forms and terms and trade through a guaranteed clearing house. Trading activity and academic interest have increased since then. Today, many options are created in

3354-506: The concepts of rational pricing (i.e. risk neutrality ), moneyness , option time value , and put–call parity . The valuation itself combines a model of the behavior ( "process" ) of the underlying price with a mathematical method which returns the premium as a function of the assumed behavior. The models range from the (prototypical) Black–Scholes model for equities, to the Heath–Jarrow–Morton framework for interest rates, to

3432-411: The cost of the bid would rise substantially. Knowing that such a plan could be activated, the bidder could be discouraged from taking over the corporation without the board's approval, and would first negotiate with the board in order to revoke the plan. The plan can be issued by the board of directors as an " option " or a " warrant " attached to existing shares, and only be revoked at the discretion of

3510-434: The dynamics of stochastic interest rates. The following are some principal valuation techniques used in practice to evaluate option contracts. Following early work by Louis Bachelier and later work by Robert C. Merton , Fischer Black and Myron Scholes made a major breakthrough by deriving a differential equation that must be satisfied by the price of any derivative dependent on a non-dividend-paying stock. By employing

3588-449: The early 2000s has been for shareholders to vote against poison pill authorization, since poison pills are designed to resist takeovers, whereas from the point of view of a shareholder, takeovers can be financially rewarding. Some have argued that poison pills are detrimental to shareholder interests because they perpetuate existing management. For instance, Microsoft originally made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo! , but subsequently dropped

3666-413: The financial resources to exercise the option, or a buyer in the market trying to amass a large option holding. The ownership of an option does not generally entitle the holder to any rights associated with the underlying asset, such as voting rights or any income from the underlying asset, such as a dividend . Contracts similar to options have been used since ancient times. The first reputed option buyer

3744-432: The issuer. If the option's expiration date passes without the option being exercised, the option expires, and the holder forfeits the premium paid to the issuer. In any case, the premium is income to the issuer, and normally a capital loss to the option holder. An option holder may on-sell the option to a third party in a secondary market , in either an over-the-counter transaction or on an options exchange , depending on

3822-399: The largest number ever reported since the early 1980s, when the pill was invented. While there is some evidence that takeover protections allow managers to negotiate a higher purchase price, overall, they reduce firm productivity. Option (finance) In finance , an option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the holder , the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell

3900-464: The motion picture industry, film or theatrical producers often buy an option giving the right – but not the obligation – to dramatize a specific book or script. Lines of credit give the potential borrower the right – but not the obligation – to borrow within a specified time period. Many choices, or embedded options, have traditionally been included in bond contracts. For example, many bonds are convertible into common stock at

3978-404: The option holding at any time until the expiration date and would consider doing so when the stock's spot price is above the exercise price, especially if the holder expects the price of the option to drop. By selling the option early in that situation, the trader can realise an immediate profit. Alternatively, the trader can exercise the option – for example, if there is no secondary market for

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4056-669: The option writer is a well-capitalized institution (to prevent credit risk). Option types commonly traded over the counter include: By avoiding an exchange, users of OTC options can narrowly tailor the terms of the option contract to suit individual business requirements. In addition, OTC option transactions generally do not need to be advertised to the market and face little or no regulatory requirements. However, OTC counterparties must establish credit lines with each other and conform to each other's clearing and settlement procedures. With few exceptions, there are no secondary markets for employee stock options . These must either be exercised by

4134-403: The option. The market price of an American-style option normally closely follows that of the underlying stock being the difference between the market price of the stock and the strike price of the option. The actual market price of the option may vary depending on a number of factors, such as a significant option holder needing to sell the option due to the expiration date approaching and not having

4212-401: The options – and then sell the stock, realising a profit. A trader would make a profit if the spot price of the shares rises by more than the premium. For example, if the exercise price is 100 and the premium paid is 10, then if the spot price of 100 rises to only 110, the transaction is break-even; an increase in the stock price above 110 produces a profit. If the stock price at expiration

4290-435: The original grantee or allowed to expire. The most common way to trade options is via standardized options contracts listed by various futures and options exchanges . Listings and prices are tracked and can be looked up by ticker symbol . By publishing continuous, live markets for option prices, an exchange enables independent parties to engage in price discovery and execute transactions. As an intermediary to both sides of

4368-484: The pandemic, various companies turned to shareholder rights plans to defend against opportunistic takeover offers. In March 2020, 10 U.S. companies adopted new poison pills, setting a new record. The Twitter Board of Directors unanimously enacted a shareholder rights plan in 2022 following an unsolicited purchase offer from Elon Musk . In publicly held companies, there are various "poison pill" methods to deter takeover bids. Takeovers by soliciting proxies against

4446-469: The percentage of the target owned by the acquirer, and makes it more expensive to acquire 50% of the target's stock. A "flip-in" permits shareholders, except for the acquirer, to purchase additional shares at a discount. This provides investors with instantaneous profits. Using this type of poison pill also dilutes shares held by the acquiring company, making the takeover attempt more expensive and more difficult. A "flip-over" enables stockholders to purchase

4524-402: The pill to allow shareholders to decide whether they want to tender to a bid for the company. However, the company may be allowed to maintain it for long enough to run an auction to see if a white knight can be found. A notable Canadian case before the securities regulators in 2006 involved the poison pill of Falconbridge Ltd. which at the time was the subject of a friendly bid from Inco and

4602-415: The premium received from selling the call. Overall, the payoffs match the payoffs from selling a put. This relationship is known as put–call parity and offers insights for financial theory. A benchmark index for the performance of a buy-write strategy is the CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (ticker symbol BXM). Another very common strategy is the protective put , in which a trader buys a stock (or holds

4680-409: The premium, the seller loses money, with the potential loss being unlimited. A trader who expects a stock's price to increase can buy the stock or instead sell, or "write", a put. The trader selling a put has an obligation to buy the stock from the put buyer at a fixed price ("strike price"). If the stock price at expiration is above the strike price, the seller of the put (put writer) makes a profit in

4758-519: The reign of William and Mary . Privileges were options sold over the counter in nineteenth-century America, with both puts and calls on shares offered by specialized dealers. Their exercise price was fixed at a rounded-off market price on the day or week that the option was bought, and the expiry date was generally three months after purchase. They were not traded in secondary markets. In the real estate market, call options have long been used to assemble large parcels of land from separate owners; e.g.,

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4836-413: The risk-free rate of interest, and the strike price of the option. Options may be traded between private parties in over-the-counter (OTC) transactions, or they may be exchange-traded in live, public markets in the form of standardized contracts. An option is a contract that allows the holder the right to buy or sell an underlying asset or financial instrument at a specified strike price on or before

4914-471: The statutory levels (often 10% of the outstanding shares) in the rights plan. The London Stock Exchange itself is another example of a company that has seen significant stakebuilding by a hostile suitor, in this case the NASDAQ . The LSE's ultimate fate is currently up in the air, but NASDAQ's stake is sufficiently large that it is essentially impossible for a third party bidder to make a successful offer to acquire

4992-438: The stock at a fixed price ( strike price ) at a later date, rather than purchase the stock outright. The cash outlay on the option is the premium. The trader would have no obligation to buy the stock, but only has the right to do so on or before the expiration date. The risk of loss would be limited to the premium paid, unlike the possible loss had the stock been bought outright. The holder of an American-style call option can sell

5070-400: The stock price at expiration is below the exercise price by more than the premium paid, the trader makes a profit. If the stock price at expiration is above the exercise price, the trader lets the put contract expire and loses only the premium paid. In the transaction, the premium also plays a role as it enhances the break-even point. For example, if the exercise price is 100 and the premium paid

5148-406: The stock to the call buyer at a fixed price ("strike price"). If the seller does not own the stock when the option is exercised, they are obligated to purchase the stock in the market at the prevailing market price. If the stock price decreases, the seller of the call (call writer) makes a profit in the amount of the premium. If the stock price increases over the strike price by more than the amount of

5226-675: The stocks. With the release of the "golden handcuffs", many discontented employees may quit immediately after having cashed in their stock options. This poison pill is designed to create an exodus of talented employees, reducing the corporate value as a target. In many high-tech businesses, attrition of talented human resources may result in a diluted or empty shell being left behind for the new owner. For instance, PeopleSoft guaranteed its customers in June 2003 that if it were acquired within two years, presumably by its rival Oracle, and product support were reduced within four years, its customers would receive

5304-473: The takeover. Examples of this include Spain's adoption of new rules for the ownership of energy companies after E.ON of Germany made a hostile bid for Endesa and France's threats to punish any potential acquiror of Groupe Danone . Poison pill is sometimes used more broadly to describe other types of takeover defenses that involve the target taking some action. Although the broad category of takeover defenses (more commonly known as "shark repellents") includes

5382-452: The target firm's voting common stock, it then still would not be able to exercise control over its purchase. For example, ASARCO established a voting plan in which 99% of the company's common stock would only harness 16.5% of the total voting power. In addition to these pills, a "dead-hand" provision allows only the directors who introduce the poison pill to remove it (for a set period after they have been replaced), thus potentially delaying

5460-436: The technique of constructing a risk-neutral portfolio that replicates the returns of holding an option, Black and Scholes produced a closed-form solution for a European option's theoretical price. At the same time, the model generates hedge parameters necessary for effective risk management of option holdings. While the ideas behind the Black–Scholes model were ground-breaking and eventually led to Scholes and Merton receiving

5538-400: The traditional shareholder rights plan poison pill. Other anti-takeover protections include: A minuscule number of companies are giving shareholders a say on poison pills. As of June 15, 2009, 21 companies that had adopted or extended a poison pill had publicly disclosed they plan to put the poison pill to a shareholder vote within a year. That was up from 2008's full year total of 18, and was

5616-402: The transaction (to sell or buy) if the holder "exercises" the option. An option that conveys to the holder the right to buy at a specified price is referred to as a call , while one that conveys the right to sell at a specified price is known as a put . The issuer may grant an option to a buyer as part of another transaction (such as a share issue or as part of an employee incentive scheme), or

5694-452: The transaction, the benefits the exchange provides to the transaction include: These trades are described from the point of view of a speculator. If they are combined with other positions, they can also be used in hedging . An option contract in US markets usually represents 100 shares of the underlying security. A trader who expects a stock's price to increase can buy a call option to purchase

5772-418: The two basic kinds of stock trades (long and short) allows a variety of options strategies . Simple strategies usually combine only a few trades, while more complicated strategies can combine several. Strategies are often used to engineer a particular risk profile to movements in the underlying security. For example, buying a butterfly spread (long one X1 call, short two X2 calls, and long one X3 call) allows

5850-467: The valuation and risk management principles apply across all financial options. Options are classified into a number of styles, the most common of which are: These are often described as vanilla options. Other styles include: Because the values of option contracts depend on a number of different variables in addition to the value of the underlying asset, they are complex to value. There are many pricing models in use, although all essentially incorporate

5928-501: The war, the L-pill was offered to pilots of the U-2 reconnaissance plane, who were in danger of being shot down and captured flying over Eastern Europe, but most pilots declined to take it with them. The Central Intelligence Agency began experimenting with saxitoxin , an extremely potent neurotoxin , during the 1950s as a replacement for the L-pill. According to CIA Director William Colby ,

6006-459: Was already too expensive, and that Yang was not bargaining in good faith, which later led to several shareholder lawsuits and an aborted proxy fight from Carl Icahn . Yahoo's stock price plunged after Microsoft withdrew the bid, and Jerry Yang faced a backlash from stockholders that eventually led to his resignation. Poison pills saw a resurgence of popularity in 2020 as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic . As stock prices plummeted due to

6084-405: Was the ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher Thales of Miletus . On a certain occasion, it was predicted that the season's olive harvest would be larger than usual, and during the off-season, he acquired the right to use a number of olive presses the following spring. When spring came and the olive harvest was larger than expected, he exercised his options and then rented the presses out at

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