oppies, page-207

"There's just not enough volume of options outstanding (& you need to almost halve that number to account for the relative value of the exercise price to the SP)"

Hi mate, the volume of the options means very little in regards to the drag they can have on the share price until expiry.

The drag is created from the selling of the heads...Then the shareholder submits to have his/her options converted which does not show up as volume traded because it's not a trade put simply.

Once option liquidity dries up, traders looking to profit the arbitrage will indeed be negligible.

Unlike someone trading the options...A person who may have bought or been awarded their options years ago will be in a position of damage control...Provided there is a gap between the price of conversion and the heads they can mitigate the amount of damage their investment in options has on their portfolio by selling the heads, converting their options vs letting them die and the gap in price is the damage control.

I could be overstating the effect as we can never completely quantify this, however someone dumped a million shares in quick order yesterday and I'm betting it was to use the funds to exercise their options.

As the options crash and burn over the next week leading to expiry at end of month, I think it's reasonable to expect further sp volatility to and as far as 7c which is just above the conversion cost.

The saving grace may be those looking to take a position before the options expire and winds potentially to hit the sails in April. Even anticipating the further price volatility, some may be willing to accumulate around the current price if the volume is there because a drop in the share price doesn't always present opportunity if the volume is not there for the buyer.

Cheers.