Options contracts lose value every day just from the passage of time, which is bad news for anyone holding options and waiting for a move.

• Time decay (called "theta") eats away at an option's price a little each day, like an ice cube melting.
• The melting speeds up as the expiration date gets closer, so the last stretch before expiry is the most costly.
• A theta of 5 cents means losing $5 per contract per day, because each contract covers 100 shares.
• Buyers who sit on options too long can lose money even if the stock never moves against them.

Outlook: Holding options into their final days means value drains fastest, so waiting for a late move gets more expensive as expiry nears.