Iraklis...
I took the liberty of copying your post over on an options thread and here is the answer I got...
Hope this helps a little...
I don't have all the answers, but I have an idea about your part a). The lack of other strikes and expirations is, I believe, due to the practice of not creating an options market for stocks trading under $5. If you look back at the charts, you find that the Feb2000s have existed since June 21, 1999, but show no volume traded until July 8. It is perhaps no accident that June 20 and 21 were the only days before today that the stock traded above $5 in the last several months. Once the stock fell below $5, no additional options market was created, which would account for why only the Feb2000s exist. I don't know why there are no Jan2000s though, unless there were some that have all been closed by now.
If you add up all the volume from the historical record, it is less than 12,000 call contracts and about 6,000 put contracts, so your speculation about preferred may be a factor.
You might find someone more knowledgeable about all this on the advanced strategies thread
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Regards,
JM |
