Investigating Trading Strategies in Call Option Exchange of Rail Stock and Analyzing Exchange Opportunities

Purpose: Investors seek solutions in order to manage risks and create security in the market so as to have more control over the value of investment during market fluctuations. For this purpose, various derivatives have been designed. One of them is option. In option markets, those who want to have a lower risk can transfer their risk to those who seek more risk. These markets will provide risk distribution among investors, and no investment has to bear an unfavorable level of risk. Gaining profit with higher returns is one of the attractions of option trading. Investors can often have investment opportunities with the aim of playing the stock market or staying safe from risk by simultaneously buying and selling option contracts. In general, different combinations of option trade strategies provide investors with a suitable basis to earn profit. Recently, Heril rail stock has started to use options in the OTC. Due to the newness of these derivative instruments in the rail sector, no research has been done in this regard. So far, studies have been conducted on the use of trading strategies abroad, but domestic studies are very limited, which is mostly due to asymmetric strategies. No study is yet done on symmetric trading strategies. So, the present study can claim novelty.
Methodology: This study focuses on over-the-counter (OTC) railway transportation companies. The OTC shares of railway transportation are for Toka, Hasa, Heparsa, Haseer, Hegardesh, Heril and Heafarin companies. The data of the stock exchange companies of railway transport from 2021 to 2023 were taken from the TseClient 2.0 software, and the stock price information was collected as a daily time series. To calculate the price fluctuations from Excel and to draw a chart related to stock options, the DerivaGem calculation software, which is related to option pricing, and the Python software were used in addition to reviewing the appropriate strategy for risk management and opportunity analysis. This study analyzes the binomial tree pricing model and the strategies adopted on the option to buy rail shares. Among the trading strategies, symmetric straddle and asymmetric Bear Call Spread strategies have been chosen. For analysis, one of the railway companies is selected as an example. This analysis is the same for the other rail stocks, but the outputs are different.
Findings and discussion: For the purpose of Binomial option pricing, the exercise price for Heparsa shares is considered to be 77951 Rials. This is based on the maturity of four months and according to Monte Carlo simulation. The annual volatility of Heparsa shares at the chosen time is found to be 39% based on volatility calculation formulas. Also, according to the straddle formulas and the prices resulting from the valuation of the option through the binomial model at the maturity of four months, Long Call Option return of Heparsa stock, Long Put Option return of Heparsa stock, and the total output of the Call option strategy were calculated. The results of the Straddle strategy calculations show that from 64000 to 91300 Rials in the price range of Heparsa shares, there is a negative return on investment. The Call option of Heparsa shares has a positive return at purchase prices lower than 64,000 Rials and at prices higher than 91300 Rials. Recession in the Iranian stock market and the use of Bear Call Spread asymmetric strategy can reconcile investors with this market. According to the Bear Call Spread asymmetric strategy, the Call option of shares of Heparsa with a maturity of four months at the exercise price of 77951 Rials (X2) and the Call option of the same share with a maturity of four months at the exercise price of 64544 Rials (X1) are sold to another investor at less than the price of the previous actions. According to the binomial put option pricing model, the selling price of this Call option is 4.15378 Rials. The closing price of this company's stock at the maturity of four months is estimated by the binomial tree model and found to be 115989, 92708, 74100, 59227 and 47339 Rials. Finally, according to the calculations related to the Bear Call Spread asymmetric strategy, the distance between the exercise prices of 77951 and 64544 rials is a downward trend of returns. The Call option of Heparsa shares will have a positive and constant return of 8126 Rials at the agreed purchase price of less than 64544 Rials, and at a price higher than 77951 Rials will have a negative and constant return of -5281 Rials.
Conclusions and policy implications: In this study, profit models resulting from the adoption of symmetric and asymmetric strategies were analyzed. In the last few years, Iran’s stock market has experienced severe fluctuations, and its trend cannot be predicted by any technical or fundamental analysis. For this reason, among options trading strategies, symmetric strategies, straddle model, asymmetric strategies, and Bear Call Spread strategy for risk management in the current market conditions have been selected for investigation. The Bear Call Spread strategy is used when there is an expectation of a decrease in the stock price, which is more appropriate in the current situation when the stock market is in recession, and the return of the Bear Call Spread strategy can be positive and profitable for the investor. The symmetric straddle strategy can be profitable for the investor both in increasing the stock price and in decreasing the stock price. An increase in stock prices can be predicted for the time when an agreement is reached for the country, which will have positive effects on the capital market. In general, it is not possible to find a strategy that works successfully for all conditions and reasons such as risk aversion and risk tolerance of the investor. Also, stock price fluctuations can be influential in choosing the type of strategy