Merrill A Bank of America Company Merrill A Bank of America Company Open an account Login Open Menu bar Find answers to common questions at MerrillSchedule an Open an accountwith Merrill MERRILL EDGE® SELF‑DIRECTED INVESTING Select toOpen an account Options contract and other fees may applyFootnote1 $0.65 fee applies per contract, $0 exercise/assignment fee if applicable.Footnote2 Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. [+] Show details and the options disclosure document. Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Certain requirements must be met to trade options. Before engaging in the purchase or sale of options, investors should understand the nature of and extent of their rights and obligations and be aware of the risks involved in investing with options. Please read the options disclosure document titled "Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (PDF)" before considering any option transaction. You may also call the Investment Center at 877.653.4732 for a copy. A separate client agreement is needed. Multi-leg option orders are charged one base commission per order, plus a per-contract charge. The maximum loss, gain and breakeven of any options strategy only remains as defined so long as the strategy contains all original positions. Trading, rolling, assignment, or exercise of any portion of the strategy will result in a new maximum loss, gain and breakeven calculation, which will be materially different from the calculation when the strategy remains intact with all of the contemplated legs or positions. This is applicable to all options strategies inclusive of long options, short options and spreads. To learn more about Merrill's uncovered option handling practices, view Naked Option Stress Analysis (NOSA) (PDF). Early assignment risk is always present for option writers (specific to American-style options only). Early assignment risk may be amplified in the event a call writer is short an option during the period the underlying security has an ex-dividend date. This is referred to as dividend risk. Long options are exercised and short options are assigned. Note that American-style options can be assigned/exercised at any time through the day of expiration without prior notice. Options can be assigned/exercised after market close on expiration day. View specific Merrill Option Exercise & Assignment Practices (PDF). Supporting documentation for any claims, comparison, recommendations, statistics, or other technical data, will be supplied upon request. OPTIONSPLAY® Unlock investment opportunities with a reimagined analytics experience integrated into Merrill Edge MarketPro®. Simply enter a symbol, see the trend, state your view, see options strategies and deploy. Access in-depth reports like the US Option Overwriting Trade Ideas report, which highlights single-stock covered call writing opportunities, generated through quantitative screening. Explore the security universe for option opportunities or stock attributes that meet your customized criteria. Use Merrill Edge MarketPro® to build your own customized trading platform that gives you real-time market data and analysis along with powerful trading tools.Footnote4 We can help build your foundation and even learn what the pros use.Footnote5 Visit our Options Trading Education Hub Previous slide of 4❮Next slide of 4❯ Select toView moreabout options Slide 1 of 4Slide 2 of 4Slide 3 of 4Slide 4 of 4 Select toOpen an account or call us at 888.637.3343 Ready to add options to an existing account? Apply now for options approval. Invest your way with access to a wide range of stocks, bonds, ETFs and well-known mutual funds StocksETFsMutual FundsFixed IncomeMarginManaged Portfolios Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Certain requirements must be met to trade options. Before engaging in the purchase or sale of options, investors should understand the nature of and extent of their rights and obligations and be aware of the risks involved in investing with options. Please read the options disclosure document titled "Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (PDF)" before considering any option transaction. You may also call the Investment Center at 877.653.4732 for a copy. A separate client agreement is needed. Multi-leg option orders are charged one base commission per order, plus a per-contract charge. The maximum loss, gain and breakeven of any options strategy only remains as defined so long as the strategy contains all original positions. Trading, rolling, assignment, or exercise of any portion of the strategy will result in a new maximum loss, gain and breakeven calculation, which will be materially different from the calculation when the strategy remains intact with all of the contemplated legs or positions. This is applicable to all options strategies inclusive of long options, short options and spreads. To learn more about Merrill's uncovered option handling practices, view Naked Option Stress Analysis (NOSA) (PDF). Early assignment risk is always present for option writers (specific to American-style options only). Early assignment risk may be amplified in the event a call writer is short an option during the period the underlying security has an ex-dividend date. This is referred to as dividend risk. Long options are exercised and short options are assigned. Note that American-style options can be assigned/exercised at any time through the day of expiration without prior notice. Options can be assigned/exercised after market close on expiration day. View specific Merrill Option Exercise & Assignment Practices (PDF). Supporting documentation for any claims, comparison, recommendations, statistics, or other technical data, will be supplied upon request. Footnote Other fees may apply. Free and $0 means there is no commission charged for these trades. $0 option trades are subject to a $0.65 per-contract fee. Sales are subject to a transaction fee of between $0.01 and $0.03 per $1,000 of principal. There are costs associated with owning ETFs. To learn more about Merrill pricing, visit our Pricing page. Footnote Merrill waives its commissions for all online stock, ETF and option trades placed in a Merrill Edge® Self-Directed brokerage account. Brokerage fees associated with, but not limited to, margin transactions, special stock registration/gifting, account transfer and processing and termination apply. $0 option trades are subject to a $0.65 per-contract fee. Other fees and restrictions may apply. Pricing is subject to change without advance notice. Footnote BofA Global Research is research produced by BofA Securities, Inc. ("BofAS") and/or one or more of its affiliates. BofAS is a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPCpopup, and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation ("BofA Corp."). Footnote Merrill Edge MarketPro® is available to clients who maintain a Merrill Edge® Self-Directed relationship. Not available to investment professionals or for trust accounts and business accounts. Relationship requirements and pricing are subject to change. Footnote This material is being provided for informational purposes only. Nothing herein is or should be construed as investment, legal or tax advice, a recommendation of any kind, a solicitation of clients, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to invest in options. The information herein has been obtained from third-party sources and, although believed to be reliable, has not been independently verified and its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. Merrill, its affiliates, and financial advisors do not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. You should consult your legal and/or tax advisors before making any financial decisions. Investing in securities involves risks, and there is always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities. Asset allocation, diversification, and rebalancing do not ensure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets. Merrill, its affiliates, and financial advisors do not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. You should consult your legal and/or tax advisors before making any financial decisions. This material is not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or investment strategy. Merrill offers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory (including financial planning) and other services. Additional information is available in our Client Relationship Summary (PDF). Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as "MLPF&S" or "Merrill") makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation ("BofA Corp."). MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, Member Securities Investor Protection (SIPC) popup and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation ("BofA Corp"). Merrill Lynch Life Agency Inc. (MLLA) is a licensed insurance agency and wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. Banking products are provided by Bank of America, N.A. and affiliated banks, Members FDIC and wholly owned subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation. 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What is an Option?8 min readAn option is a contract to buy or sell a specific financial product known as the option's underlying instrument or underlying interest.What are the Benefits and Risks? 8 min readMost strategies used by options investors have limited risk but also limited profit potential. Options strategies are not get-rich-quick schemes and can also have unlimited loss potential.Options Pricing6 min readAn option's premium is comprised of intrinsic value and extrinsic value. Intrinsic value is reflective of the actual value of the strike price versus the market price. Extrinsic value is made up of time until expiration and implied volatility.Equity Option Basics8 min readAn equity option is issued as a call or a put which determines if the contract contains the right to buy (call) or the right to sell (put).
