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Options Trading Simulator

ABC Corp is trading at $200.00 right now. This is what a real options chain looks like, don't be afraid of it: we'll open one call option, watch it move, then close it, no real money involved.

Every option has a deadline, called the expiration. After that date it's over: either it paid off, or it's worth nothing. Click a date row to open its prices. More days left means a pricier contract, because more can still happen.

Every option has a target price too, called the strike. It's the price you're locking in: for a call, the price you get to buy at, no matter how high the stock climbs. Calls live to the left of the strike, puts to the right, and every strike in between is its own separate contract with its own price.

Later in this walkthrough we'll use the $190 strike. It's already $10 in the money ($200 current price − $190 strike = $10), so once you buy it you'll be able to see exactly how much of the price is real value and how much is hope.

Colors tell you whether a contract is already worth something. Green ones would pay out if today were expiration day. Plain ones are pure hope: they only pay if ABC moves far enough in time.

Green · in the money, already worth cash Yellow · at the money, right where ABC sits Plain · out of the money, hope only

Every option has two prices at once. Ask is what you pay to buy. Bid is what you get when you sell. The gap between them is the spread, and it's a real cost: you lose it the instant you buy.

IV (implied volatility) is how much movement the market is pricing in. High IV means expensive options, because a wild stock is more likely to pay off. Vol is how many contracts changed hands today, a rough gauge of how easy it'll be to sell yours later.

These are the two columns beginners ignore and later regret. You don't need to master them today, just know that a high-IV option costs more for the exact same target price.

Let's say you want to buy the $190 call, expiring Feb 14, 30 days out. Follow the red numbers in the chain above: 1 is the Feb 14 row, 2 is the $190 strike, 3 is the Ask column, the buy column. Where that row meets that column is the price that's pulsing green. That's every piece of an option in one cell: the date, the strike, and the side. Click it to open your order ticket.

Grab either slider below and drag it. Everything above reprices instantly: the chain, your contract, your profit. This is the part beginners never get to see before real money is on the line.

ABC share price $200.00
$170Started at $200.00$230
Days passed 0 of 30
Today30 days leftExpiration

Try the cruel one: leave the price at $200 and drag time forward 15 days. You didn't guess wrong, the stock never moved, and you still lost money. That's time decay, and it's what quietly kills most beginner trades.