Options Glossary

Hedge / Hedged position: A position established with the specific intent of protecting an existing position. For example, an owner of common stock may buy a put option to hedge against a possible stock price decline.
Historic volatility: A measure of actual stock price changes over a specific period. See also Standard deviation.
Holder: Any person who has made an opening purchase transaction, call or put, and has that position in a brokerage account.
Horizontal spread: An option strategy that generally involves the purchase of a farther-term option (call or put) and the writing of an equal number of nearer-term options of the same type and strike price. Example: buying 1 XYZ May 60 call (far-term portion of the spread) and writing 1 XYZ March 60 call (near-term portion of the spread). See also Calendar spread.