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Basics: Underwater Options


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Stomach Volatility In Your Company's Stock Without Losing Your Mind

Joanna Glasner and Bruce Brumberg
Don't be discouraged by stock market volatility and underwater stock options. As the experts note, stock grants are tools for building wealth in the long term.

Stockbrokers' Secrets (Part 4): What I Tell My Best Clients About Down-Market Strategy

W.E.B. Bantling
Market declines rattle even the most experienced stock option veterans (and their advisors). If you are less than fully prepared to cope with the emotional toll caused by an uncertain market, heed these 10 topics.

Better Late Than Never: Stock Option Strategy For The Market Upturn This is premium content

Michael Beriss
Question the urge to exercise your options to pocket quick profits: exercising too early is a common and big mistake.

Fundamentals Of Employee Stock Purchase Plans (Part 4): Down Markets And Other Tax Topics This is premium content

Alisa Baker
In Part 4 we consider the taxation of employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) that are not qualified under Section 423, and the tax issues of down markets, death, and withholding.

Manage Your Expectations To Avoid The "Option Blues"

Loren Rodgers
You feel let down by your stock options. Your company's stock price has dropped, leaving you with underwater options, and the cash flow from expected option riches has evaporated.

When Your Stock Options Are Underwater

Dan Caplinger
Motley Fool
Though many stock options sink underwater during a market downturn, option grants usually have a 10-year term, giving them plenty of time to become valuable again as your company's stock price recovers.

Glub, Glub, Glub: 40% Of Options Are Underwater

Mark Bruno
Financial Week
Companies are considering ways to deal with underwater stock options, either by repricing them or by exchanging them for grants of restricted stock.

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What are "underwater" stock options? Why shouldn't I exercise them?

Underwater stock options have an exercise price which is greater than the market price of the underlying stock. For example...

UPDATED! What approaches do companies apply to underwater stock options? This is premium content

During 2008, the number of companies, and their employees, with underwater stock options substantially increased, especially after the historic drop of the stock markets in October 2008. A survey...

UPDATED! What is an options exchange? This is premium content

An options exchange is an alternative to repricing underwater stock options...

I have underwater options. Will I get a tax loss when I exercise them? This is premium content

No. When your exercise price (e.g. $10) is higher than the...

I have underwater stock options that are about to expire unexercised. Can I write these off as some type of loss on my tax return? This is premium content

Wishful thinking! Just as you are not taxed on the value of the options at grant, you may not write off any expired unexercised options, whether underwater or in the money...

I have both in-the-money and underwater options. If I exercise them all and immediately sell the stock, can I offset the gains with the losses on the underwater options? This is premium content

This is wishful thinking, because these are two separate transactions. It does not make sense to...

NEW! Can restricted stock go underwater? This is premium content

Not in the way stock options can. Restricted stock is worth the full market value of the stock when it vests (or, with restricted stock units, when shares are delivered). It does not matter if...

Can the exercise price of outstanding stock options ever be raised or lowered? Can the options be repriced? This is premium content

Generally, the exercise price cannot be raised without your written consent...

If my company offers me an options exchange or reprices my underwater options, will there be any tax impact on me? What factors should I consider in accepting the exchange? This is premium content

Very few companies arrange a straight repricing of outstanding options. Companies concerned about widespread and deeply underwater options may offer an...

If my company or a third party buys my employee stock options for cash, how is this taxed? This is premium content

You recognize ordinary income for the full value of the cash payment. Any deferred portion of the cash sale proceeds is not taxable until...

How many employees at Microsoft elected to exchange their underwater options for cash?

According to a statement the company issued on December 11, 2003...

In an acquisition, what happens to my underwater stock options? This is premium content

This depends on the provisions in your stock plan and the structure of the merger or acquisition. According to the flexibility for adjusting outstanding grants that your company's stock plan provides, the buyer can...

If my company cancels my underwater stock options, will they still count against the $100,000 ISO limit? This is premium content

This depends on whether the ISOs are already vested. According to the final IRS regulations on ISOs...

My company will let me exchange my underwater options for restricted stock. What is the tax impact? This is premium content

An option-for-option exchange is not taxable. But when you exchange underwater options for restricted stock...

What tax treatment applies if I exercise vested pre-IPO options that now cost more to exercise than they are worth? This is premium content

In a public company you would never exercise underwater stock options. In a private company...

In a divorce case, how do you argue that underwater stock options have value? This is premium content

When the net intrinsic value of the stock is zero, the attorney for the nonemployee-spouse has two ways to obtain...

At death, the value of options is included in the gross estate for estate tax purposes. But what happens if the stock's value drops below the exercise price and the options expire unexercised? This is premium content

When options are exercised, generally the estate or beneficiary is able to take an income tax deduction for the amount of estate taxes already paid by the estate. But when they are not exercised you cannot take the deduction against other income...

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Featured FAQs
NEW! Can restricted stock go underwater? This is premium content
Not in the way stock options can. Restricted stock is worth the full market value of the stock when it vests (or, with restricted stock units, when shares are delivered). It does not matter if...
In a divorce case, how do you argue that underwater stock options have value? This is premium content
When the net intrinsic value of the stock is zero, the attorney for the nonemployee-spouse has two ways to obtain...
If my company cancels my underwater stock options, will they still count against the $100,000 ISO limit? This is premium content
This depends on whether the ISOs are already vested. According to the final IRS regulations on ISOs...