Call option

A call option is a contract giving its holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy a set number of shares at a fixed strike price before an expiry date. A short-dated call option costs little and gains sharply if the share price jumps, which is why it appears in several sham-bid cases.

manipulation techniques · updated 2026-09-20

Where does call option come up?

This term is used in the following manipulation techniques, each explained in full on its own page.

Sham tender offers — A sham tender offer is a takeover bid announced or filed by someone with no intention or means of completing it, or by a bidder who does not exist, in order to move the target's share price and trade against the move.

Enforcement actions involving these techniques

Action	Agency	Filed	Technique	Penalty	Status
SEC v. Melville Peter ten Cate (sham tender offers, 2023)	SEC	2023-01-03	Sham Tender Offers	$500k	judgment
SEC v. Lee Simmons (price manipulation, 2022)	SEC	2022-08-19	EDGAR Filing Fraud , Price Manipulation +1	—	filed
SEC v. Edgar M. Radjabli, Apis Capital Management LLC and My Loan Doctor LLC (sham tender offers, 2021)	SEC	2021-06-11	Sham Tender Offers	$419k	settled
SEC v. PTG Capital Partners, Ltd. (sham tender offers, 2020)	SEC	2020-03-11	EDGAR Filing Fraud , Sham Tender Offers	$1.5m	judgment
SEC v. Mark E. Burns (price manipulation, 2019)	SEC	2019-08-12	EDGAR Filing Fraud , Price Manipulation +1	$60k	judgment

Back to the full glossary — 261 defined terms.