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Options Trading Costs Are Lower than You Think

Author

Listed:
  • Dmitriy Muravyev
  • Neil D Pearson
  • Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh

Abstract

Conventional estimates of the costs of taking liquidity in options markets are large. Nonetheless, options trading volume is high. We resolve this puzzle by showing that options price changes are predictable at high frequency, and many traders time executions by buying (selling) when the option fair value is close to the ask (bid). Effective spreads of traders who time executions are less than 40% of the size of conventional measures, and the overall average effective spread is one-quarter smaller than conventional estimates. Price impact measures are also affected. These findings alter conclusions about the after-cost profitability of options trading strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Dmitriy Muravyev & Neil D Pearson & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2020. "Options Trading Costs Are Lower than You Think," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(11), pages 4973-5014.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:33:y:2020:i:11:p:4973-5014.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Brendan K. Beare & Juwon Seo, 2022. "Stochastic arbitrage with market index options," Papers 2207.00949, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2022.
    2. Thierry Post & Iňaki Rodríguez Longarela, 2021. "Risk Arbitrage Opportunities for Stock Index Options," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 100-113, January.
    3. Xuejun Jin & Jingyu Zhao & Xingguo Luo, 2022. "Why are the prices of European‐style derivatives greater than the prices of American‐style derivatives?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(9), pages 1772-1793, September.
    4. Fullwood, Jonathan & James, Jessica & Marsh, Ian W., 2021. "Volatility and the cross-section of returns on FX options," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(3), pages 1262-1284.
    5. Mohrschladt, Hannes & Schneider, Judith C., 2021. "Option-implied skewness: Insights from ITM-options," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Kaeck, Andreas & van Kervel, Vincent & Seeger, Norman J., 2022. "Price impact versus bid–ask spreads in the index option market," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 59(PA).
    7. Jianfeng Hu, 2020. "Is the synthetic stock price really lower than actual price?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(12), pages 1809-1824, December.
    8. Amit Goyal & Alessio Saretto, 2022. "Are Equity Option Returns Abnormal? IPCA Says No," Working Papers 2214, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    9. Gurdip Bakshi & John Crosby & Xiaohui Gao, 2023. "Dark Matter in (Volatility and) Equity Option Risk Premiums," Papers 2303.16371, arXiv.org.
    10. David Weinbaum & Andrew Fodor & Dmitriy Muravyev & Martijn Cremers, 2023. "Option Trading Activity, News Releases, and Stock Return Predictability," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4810-4827, August.
    11. Eunpyo Hong & Min C. Park & Tao‐Hsien Dolly King, 2023. "The effect of option listing on financing decisions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 858-891, March.
    12. Borochin, Paul & Wu, Zekun & Zhao, Yanhui, 2021. "The effect of option-implied skewness on delta- and vega-hedged option returns," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. (Grace) Qing Hao & Keming Li, 2021. "Informed options trading prior to insider trades," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 459-480, August.
    14. Gurdal Ertek & Aysha Al-Kaabi & Aktham Issa Maghyereh, 2022. "Analytical Modeling and Empirical Analysis of Binary Options Strategies," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-23, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

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