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To: Jon Tara who wrote (963)	9/3/2000 4:26:25 PM
From: dli	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1426

That's not true. All contract-based instruments are zero-sum games. That holds true for options as well as futures. And the fact that they are derivatives of some underlying instrument and that they can be created and destroyed does not have any impact in that respect. Whenever the value of an option or future contract increases/decreases the holder of the contract enjoys a gain/loss in his position which is offset by a corresponding loss/gain for the seller of the contract. Of course, that contract may have changed hands many times in between and therefore those gains and losses may be distributed across a number of market participants, but at the time of expiration or when a contract ceases to exist neither any money will have been created nor destroyed. It will simply have changed hands. And that's the very definition of a zero-sum game. Dave