Theoretical Cost

Valuation

Theoretical cost refers to the estimated cost of an action or financial instrument derived from a specific mathematical model or economic theory, excluding real-world market frictions. In options trading, this represents the model-derived premium of an option, often calculated using models like Black-Scholes, before accounting for transaction fees, bid-ask spread, or market impact. For hedging strategies, it is the idealized cost of perfectly offsetting risk, assuming continuous rebalancing and frictionless markets. This valuation provides a benchmark for actual market prices. It is a conceptual benchmark.