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Kanivan
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Joined: February 11th, 2005, 12:20 pm

Time value of European options

November 23rd, 2007, 3:29 pm

Why can the time value of an European put option be negative whereas the time value of an European call is always positive (assuming no dividend is paid).
 
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gjlipman
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Joined: May 20th, 2002, 9:13 pm

Time value of European options

November 23rd, 2007, 4:20 pm

In words, it is because early exercise of a call means that you pay the strike early, losing out on value, while early exercise of a put means you get the strike early, gaining value.Mathematically, recall that the time value of a call less the time value of a put = c-p - S + KHowever, put call parity has the extra discounting.c-p=S-Ke^{-rt}So, time value of call less time value of a put = c-p-S+K = S-Ke^{-rt} - S + K = K(1-e^{-rt})or, the time value of a put = time value of a call - K(1-e^{-rt})so, if K(1-e^{-rt}) is large, the time values can differ signficantly.