The Course

Options, from the ground up

A free, plain-English course on stock options. Start at lesson one and work through in order, or jump to whatever you need. Each lesson is short, uses worked examples, and ends with a quick knowledge check.

1. 1 What Is an Option? The right, but not the obligation — what an option contract actually is and why it exists.
2. 2 Calls and Puts The two basic option types and what each one lets you do: the right to buy versus the right to sell.
3. 3 Strike Price and Expiration Date The two terms that define every option contract — the price you lock in and the deadline to use it.
4. 4 Premium and Intrinsic Value What you pay for an option, and how much of that price is "real" value you could capture right now.
5. 5 Time Value Why options cost more with more time left, and how that extra value erodes as expiration approaches.
6. 6 In the Money, At the Money, Out of the Money How an option’s strike compares to the stock price — the concept traders call moneyness.
7. 7 Exercise, Assignment, and Expiration What actually happens when an option is used, assigned to a seller, or left to expire.
8. 8 How Options Make or Lose Money Tracing an option’s profit and loss at expiration, step by step, with worked examples.
9. 9 Basic Option Risk and Reward Profiles The four basic positions — buy/sell a call or put — and the distinct payoff shape of each.
10. 10 Covered Calls and Protective Puts Combining options with shares you already own — one strategy for income, one for protection.