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Strategies & Market Trends : The Options Box -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jill who wrote (1240)	6/2/2000 8:04:00 PM
From: bobkansas	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10876

I need help from any of you regarding the following. I kept one NTAP December 45 strike contract (bought it and others at 23 1/8) and noticed that today the bid and ask were in about the 31.50 area and perhaps as high as 34 or so. The NTAP Dec. 75 strike calls were listed at a premium of around 17. + With NTAP finishing the day at 75, I do not understand why there is not a decent value for the time portion of the 45 call option. Looks like 30 bucks of in the money value and 1.5 for time value-with Dec. being the expiration date. Can anyone help me understand this? Is it the lack of volume for these particular options? Don't the Dec. 45s look very undervalued or what? Help anyone out there! Inquiring mind needs to know. BOB

To: Jill who wrote (1240)	6/4/2000 8:42:00 PM
From: t2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10876

I'm curious about one thing: open interest and volume when you buy options on the cheap. I was trading in and out of NTAP calls when the common was oscillating between 48-70, and the options went from 1 5/8 to about 9 or so. However, if you bought a huge amount, how do you unload them? How much do you get scalped by the MM because then you are literally making the market. Any experience with this? Do you unload them in stages? Or exercise and sell? I usually don't exercise and sell---although that is an idea I will keep in mind for deep in the money calls. I trade options in very liquid stock most times. One can put in big orders on the big caps along with the QQQ. When it comes to lower volume stocks, i tend to buy and sell in smaller lots OR I will put a limit price to buy (for example) at about a 1/8 to 1/4 higher than the ask. Generally, I get the actual ask. I don't exactly know the workings but I don't have problems on the big stocks I trade. I am usually buying at the ask and selling at the bid on the less liquid names. Maybe someone can give us all a lesson on what happens in the options pits on less liquid names.