LEAPS Options: What Are They? Pros & Cons
Editor's Note: Options are not suitable for all investors. Options involve risks, including substantial risk of loss and the possibility an investor may lose the entire amount invested in a short period of time. Please see the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options.
LEAPS are long-term options contracts that have an expiration period between one and three years, versus less than a year for standard options. LEAPS is an acronym, which stands for “long-term equity anticipation securities.”
LEAPS options are derivatives contracts traded on exchanges, and allow investors to utilize less capital than if they were purchasing the underlying asset outright.
Other than the longer-than-normal expiration date, leap options are functionally much like other types of options — they’re contracts that grant the buyer the right to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specific price before its expiration date.
LEAPS Options Defined
Like standard options, purchasing a LEAPS contract gives the investor the right — but not the obligation — to buy or sell the underlying asset at a set price (the strike price) before the contract expires.
LEAPS options are a variation on standard options contracts, offering extended expiration periods that some investors may include among their strategies for trading options.
LEAPS come in two basic flavors: call options and put options. And like shorter-term options, traders pay a premium when buying LEAPS options. Further, LEAPS can be tied to individual stocks or ETFs, as well as market indexes and other types of securities.
Recommended: Options Trading 101
How to Buy LEAPS Options?
Buying LEAPS options involves selecting a contract with a longer expiration date — typically more than one year out — compared to standard options. Traders begin by identifying a target asset, choosing a strike price, and deciding whether to purchase a call or put option.
From there, it’s a matter of evaluating the contract’s premium, expiration timeline, and how the option fits into a broader investment strategy. Because LEAPS contracts extend over a longer period, they may be better suited towards investors with a long-term market outlook.
Remember, LEAPS options expire more than a year from when they’re purchased, so opting for the longer-term expiration date will differentiate a LEAPS option from a standard option purchase. This may be helpful when considering long-term vs. short-term strategies.
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*Check out the OCC Options Disclosure Document.
What Are the Pros & Cons of LEAPS Options?
Like trading other types of options, there are some upsides and downsides to trading and investing with LEAPS options:
What Are the Pros of LEAPS Options?
One potential advantage of trading LEAPS options is their longer time frame, which results in slower time decay and allows their value to more closely track the price movements of the underlying asset.
A less recognized advantage of the longer time frame is that — unlike options that may expire in months, weeks, or even days — the need to constantly oversee the markets and to take advantage of short-term moves is lessened.
LEAPS also tend to cost less than their underlying asset, making them an attractive alternative for some investors.
But perhaps the biggest advantage to LEAPS is their potential for outsized returns — though they also carry risks, including the potential for total loss of the premium and exposure to long-term volatility.
What Are the Cons of LEAPS Options?
On the flipside, investors should know that LEAPS can have higher premiums than standard options due to the much higher time value of LEAPS, while still remaining cheaper than the underlying asset.
Purchasing LEAPS options requires a higher upfront investment than shorter-term options, increasing potential capital risk.
LEAPS are also not available for every stock, industry, or index out there (index investing is a separate strategy, but some options are tied to indexes). So, you may not be able to buy a LEAPS option for a specific desired asset.
Plus, because LEAPS tend to cost more than shorter-term options, they can also magnify potential losses if the trade doesn’t perform as expected.
LEAPS Options: Pros and Cons |
|
---|---|
Pros | Cons |
Potentially magnify investing gains | Potentially increase investing losses |
Costs less than the underlying asset | Higher premiums vs. standard options |
Value mirrors underlying asset more closely | LEAPS may not be available for all assets |
Explaining LEAPS Options Trading
How does LEAPS options trading actually work?
Let’s run through an example, noting that trading LEAPS is essentially the same as trading options, but with longer expiration periods:
If you believed that a certain stock was going to see a decline in value at some point in the next few years, you could use LEAPS options to position yourself accordingly. Specifically, you’d look at buying a LEAPS put option on that stock with a long-term expiration date.
The stock is trading at around $55, but again, you think that it will fall. As such, you pay a $7.50 premium for a $45 put that matures more than a year from now.
If the stock declines in price, the put option’s value may increase, allowing you to sell it for a profit before the contract expires. Or, on the other hand, you can wait for the stock to drop below $37.50 (your break even point = $45 – $7.50 = $37.50) and exercise your option or sell the option. Based on time to expiration and multiple other factors, you can decide which choice is more profitable.
Recommended: Long-term Investing Strategies
What Are Some Helpful LEAPS Options Strategies?
There are different strategies for trading options, and many can be applied to trading LEAPS.
One basic LEAPS options trading strategy is to buy calls when bullish on an asset, and try to benefit from a potential increase in value of the underlying asset over the course of a year or two.
LEAPS can almost stand in for the underlying asset itself because they offer longer exposure to its price movements, and offer a couple of key advantages: They can increase returns by allowing you control over more shares for less capital, and minimizing your potential losses to the cost of the option’s premium.
Active investors can use LEAPS alongside standard options to benefit both from short- and long-term market activity. If, for instance, you thought a stock was going to experience a value decline in the next few months, but suspect that it may bounce back and increase in value over two or three years’ time.
You could buy a standard put option with a long-term LEAPS call option to express both short-term caution and longer-term optimism.
The Takeaway
The chief difference between LEAPS options and standard options is that they have longer-than-normal expiration periods of one to three years versus less than a year for traditional options. Investors may use LEAPS to express long-term views on a stock or index without committing the full capital required to own the asset outright.
LEAPS are similar to standard options, however, in that they’re derivative contracts that grant the buyer the right to buy (call options) or sell (put options) an underlying asset at a specific price before its expiration date.
Options trading can be complex and high risk, whether trading LEAPS or short-term options, so investors interested in options should carefully consider their risk tolerance and investment goals before incorporating them into a portfolio.
Investors who are ready to try their hand at options trading despite the risks involved, might consider checking out SoFi’s options trading platform offered through SoFi Securities, LLC. The platform’s user-friendly design allows investors to buy put and call options through the mobile app or web platform, and get important metrics like breakeven percentage, maximum profit/loss, and more with the click of a button.
Plus, SoFi offers educational resources — including a step-by-step in-app guide — to help you learn more about options trading. Trading options involves high-risk strategies, and should be undertaken by experienced investors. Currently, investors can not sell options on SoFi Active Invest®.
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Options involve risks, including substantial risk of loss and the possibility an investor may lose the entire amount invested in a short period of time. Before an investor begins trading options they should familiarize themselves with the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options . Tax considerations with options transactions are unique, investors should consult with their tax advisor to understand the impact to their taxes.
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