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Exhibit 15.1 Call option payoff diagram.<br />

The payoff diagram is flat and equal to zero in the entire range where the option is out of the<br />

money—that is, where the stock price is less than the strike price. This means that someone who buys<br />

an option might lose his entire investment in that option. You may pay $3 for the option and lose<br />

100% of that $3 by the expiration date. On the brighter side, the payoff diagram confirms that the most<br />

you can lose in an option is the initial premium, the $3 you paid for it. Unlike futures or forwards, an<br />

option will never call upon you to make additional payments at a later date. Initially, you pay for the<br />

option, perhaps $3. From then on you can only receive cash inflows.<br />

Note that the payoff diagram begins to rise at the point where the stock price equals the strike price.<br />

The payoff is dollar for dollar greater than zero for every dollar that the stock price exceeds the strike<br />

price. Thus we see that a call option rises in value as the underlying asset rises in price. For this<br />

reason, some people refer to call options as bullish instruments.<br />

Hedging with a Call Option<br />

Consider the trucking company whose rates are regulated, yet costs fluctuate with market prices. The<br />

chief raw material purchased by the company is diesel fuel. If fuel prices rise, the trucking company<br />

will suffer losses, and may in fact be put out of business. As we saw earlier, the company can<br />

guarantee a fixed price for fuel by going long in a future or a forward. Another strategy would be to<br />

buy a diesel fuel call option contract. The strike price of the call option would lock in the highest price<br />

that the company will have to pay for fuel. If fuel prices should drop below the strike price, the<br />

company would be under no obligation to exercise the option. It would simply buy fuel at the low<br />

market price. If, however, fuel prices rise above the strike price, the company would exercise the<br />

option and buy fuel at the relatively low strike price.<br />

The added flexibility of the option over the futures strategy comes at a cost. When the company<br />

buys the call option, it must pay a price or “premium.” The call option is essentially an oil price<br />

insurance contract for the firm, insuring that fuel prices will not exceed the strike price. If fuel prices

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