Set this up before the open. Enter the option you plan to buy, choose a take profit and a stop loss, and see the stock prices that trigger each one on the day you sell.
Not financial advice, and not encouragement. This is an educational model. It uses Black-Scholes with a constant interest rate and ignores dividends, bid/ask spreads, skew, early exercise and fees, so quotes from your broker will differ. The odds come from a computer simulation with fixed assumptions, and a stop order can fill well below your level in a fast market or a gap. Options can lose their whole premium, so only risk money you can afford to lose, and speak with a licensed financial advisor before trading.
Plan your entry, stop loss and take profit
Use this before the market opens at 9:30 AM ET (8:30 AM CT / 09:30), while you are calm and not watching a live price. Enter the option you plan to buy and what you expect to pay, choose a take profit and a stop loss as a percent of that entry, and the calculator shows the stock prices that trigger each one on the day you sell.
The stock is what actually moves, so a stop on the option price needs a matching stock level. Those trigger prices are not fixed. As time passes, an option loses value, so the stock has to move further to reach the same take profit, and the stop is hit sooner. Below you will also find a position size, a simulation of which exit usually comes first, return maps, the Greeks and a strike comparison, so you can set everything with eyes open.
Pre-Market Options Calculator
Work top to bottom: the option, your money, then your exit plan. Every section below is built from these answers.
Step 1: The option you buy
Call bets up, put bets down
The stock price when you buy
The price your option is tied to
Calendar days left when you buy
How big a move the market expects
Leave blank to let the model estimate it
Step 2: Your money
The money you trade from
Share of the account lost if your stop hits
What you spend buying the option
1 contract = 100 shares
Step 3: Your exit plan
Sell when the option is up this much
Take profit divided by the ratio below
Days after you buy
Desired Risk : Reward Ratio
Risk
:
Reward
Optional: swing and forecast
0 means no change
0 means no opinion. Only the simulation uses it
Buy The Option At (Entry)
-
Price per share and total cost
Stock Price At Entry
-
Where the stock is when you buy
Win vs Loss Size (Reward To Risk)
-
Take profit % over stop loss %
Take Profit: Sell Option At
-
Option price and gain
Stock Price That Triggers It
-
On your sell day
Rough Odds Stock Touches It
-
A quick estimate, see the simulation below
Stop Loss: Sell Option At
-
Option price and loss
Stock Price That Triggers It
-
On your sell day
Rough Odds Stock Touches It
-
Higher means the stop is easier to hit
Plan Check
Result
What It Means
Check your size
How Many Contracts Fit
A data chart built from what you entered at the top: your account size, risk limit, option price and stop. Change those above and this updates.
Most You Want To Lose (Dollar Risk)
$0
Account times your risk percent
Contracts That Fit (Position Size)
0
Rounded down to a whole contract
What They Cost (Total Debit)
$0
Share of the account spent
Loss If Your Stop Hits
$0
At the suggested size
Gain If Take Profit Hits
$0
At the suggested size
Your Plan Right Now (Contracts In Box)
0
Risk at your stop
If The Exit Goes Wrong
Option Falls To
You Lose
Share Of Account
Versus Your Limit
In plain English: your stop only protects you if the market lets you out at that price. Options can open far below a stop after news or a gap, and a stop order then fills at whatever is available. The table shows what you would lose if that happens at your planned size, up to the option going to zero.
Will it work?
Which Exit Comes First
A computer simulation of 1,200 possible paths for the stock from your entry to your sell day. Each path is repriced along the way, so time decay and your swing change are included. It shows how often each exit triggers.
Take Profit Hits First
-
Option reaches your target
Stop Loss Hits First
-
Option falls to your stop
Neither Hits (Time Runs Out)
-
You sell on your sell day
Average Result Of The Plan
-
Odds-weighted profit or loss
Finish With A Profit (Win Rate)
-
Any exit above what you paid
Win Rate You Need To Break Even
-
From your take profit and stop loss
Paths that end in profitPaths that end in a lossHover a bar to read it
In plain English: each bar counts how many of the 1,200 simulated trades ended with that profit or loss. The spikes are your two exits: a lot of paths end exactly at your stop or at your take profit. If you typed a forecast above, the stock drifts toward it. With no forecast the stock has no built-in direction, so a plan with a fair price tends to average near zero and your edge has to come from your view and your discipline.
Stop And Target By Day
The stock price that triggers each level, depending on the day you sell, starting from your entry. Watch how both levels drift as time decays the option.
When You Sell
Take Profit Needs Stock At
Stop Loss Hits At Stock
What could happen
What If The Stock Hits...
Try any stock price and see what the option is worth on your sell day.
Try any price, or use the buttons below
Option Price At Exit (per share)
$0
What one share of the option is worth
All Contracts Together (Position Value)
$0
What you get if you sell
Profit Or Loss (P/L)
$0
Position value minus what you paid
Gain Or Loss (Return %)
0%
Compared with what you paid
Real Value / Time Value (Intrinsic / Extrinsic)
-
Time value fades as expiry nears
Stock Must Be At (Break-Even That Day)
-
Stock price where you get your money back
Profit And Loss Picture
Your result at every stock price on your sell day, with your stop and target marked.
Profit or loss on your sell dayProfit or loss if held to expiration
Move your cursor over the chart to read the profit or loss at any stock price.
In plain English: the solid line is what the position makes or loses if you sell on your chosen day, at each possible stock price. The dotted line is the result if you hold to expiration instead. The two dashed horizontal lines are your take profit and stop loss, and the circles show the stock prices where the solid line crosses them.
Return Maps
Green cells make money and pink cells lose, as a percent of what you paid. TP marks a cell that hits your take profit and SL marks one that hits your stop. Your sell day and exit price are outlined in gold.
In plain English: the top map shows when you sell and where the stock is. Read across a row to see how much the stock must move, and down a column to see what waiting costs you. The bottom map is the same sell day with the market expecting more or less swing, which shows how much of your result is the stock and how much is the swing.
Under the hood
The Greeks At Entry
How your position reacts right after you buy. Numbers cover all the contracts in your plan.
Price Sensitivity (Delta)
0
Dollars per $1 in the stock
Speed Of Change (Gamma)
0
Shares of delta added per $1
Daily Time Decay (Theta)
$0
Dollars lost per day
Swing Sensitivity (Vega)
$0
Dollars per 1 point of IV
Compare Strikes
Same plan with different strikes. Every row uses the swing you entered, and your strike is outlined in gold. Farther out of the money costs less but needs a bigger move.
Strike
Option Price
Delta
Total Cost
Stock Needed For Take Profit
Move Needed
Result At Your Exit Price
In plain English: delta is how much the option moves for a $1 move in the stock, so a high delta reacts more but costs more. The last column shows what each strike would make or lose if the stock reaches your exit price on your sell day, so you can see which strike pays best for the move you expect.
Same Day, Different Prices
What the option is worth on your sell day at prices around your exit price.
Stock Price
Move From Now
Option Value
Profit / Loss
Return
Same Price, Different Days
If the stock sits at your exit price, this is how the option value changes depending on when you sell.