As you trade you may hear or read of reference to Greeks or The Greeks.

No need to panic or be confused; The Greeks are just a collection of statistical data and values that are expressed as percentages that then give the analytical investor a clearer overall view of how a particular stock has been performing.

By gaining a better insight into how a stock has performed in the past it may assist you in determining what trading strategy you are going to adopt on a certain stock.

It is always prudent to remember that these statistics are based on what the stock has done in the past and may have absolutely no bearing on how it performs in the future.

As with any stock many outside influences can affect it and there is no way to guarantee that what it has done in the past is what it will continue to do.

Beta.
This is a measure of just how closely the movement of a stock tracks the movement of the entire stock market.

Delta.
This is a measure of the relationship between an underlying stock price and an Option price. It is a way that Traders can calculate how fast an Option price will change in relationship to the underlying stock price changes.

Gamma.
Gamma indicates the sensitivity of Delta to the unit change of an underlying stock. The Gamma can be important as it can indicate just how fast the Delta position will change as the market prices move.

Theta.
This shows how the sensitivity of the Option to time. As an Option has a set life span when you buy or sell it this shows how much the price of the option will alter for each day of time that is used. The time value of an Option decreases with each day that passes this is known as Time Decay.

Vega
In theory the Vega of an Option indicates how much the price of an Option will change as the market changes.

Rho
Rho shows the change in Option values that are the results of changes to interest rates.

Lambda
This is a measure of leverage it shows what can be the expected percentage change in the value of an Option for a one percent change in the value of the underlying stock.

Option Charm
This is used to indicate how much the delta will change as each days trading passes. It is also commonly referred to as Delta Decay.