The purchase or sale of an equal number of puts and calls, with the same strike price and expiration dates. A straddle provides the opportunity to profit from a prediction about the future volatility of the market. Long straddles are used to profit from high volatility. Long straddles can be effective when an investor is confident that a stock price will change dramatically, but cannot predict the direction of the move. Short straddles represent the opposite prediction, that a stock price will not change.

Copyright©2009 by InvestorWords.com. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Reproduction of all or part of this glossary and/or this page, in any format, without written consent is prohibited. If you have questions about this dictionary please feel free to contact us feedback\@\investorguide.com