The stock price went up, so why did your call option still lose money? Many beginners think that buying a call option means you’ll profit as long as the stock price rises. But buying a call isn’t just about predicting that the stock will go up—it also requires forecasting how much it will rise, when it will rise, and when to sell. You can’t just buy it and passively hold it waiting for profits. Complicated? Let’s look at an example: Take $SPCX: On October 20, after hours, it reported earnings, and the next day the stock surged as high as $166.17. Suppose you bought a call option expiring on October 21 with a strike price of $162.50. Even though the stock price clearly broke above $162.50, you could still end up losing your entire investment. Why? Because by the close on October 21, $SPCX had dropped back to $159.29—below the strike price. And since that option expired on the same day, it became worthless. With the stock price still below the strike at expiration, the call option had no intrinsic value, and your entire premium was lost. Could you have sold it earlier? Absolutely—options don’t need to be held until expiration; you can close your position anytime during trading hours. But even if the stock price exceeds the strike price, that doesn’t guarantee a profit. You also need to consider how much premium you paid initially and what price you can sell the option for at the time of exit. We’ll dive deeper into that next time.