Metz - sounds like you are based in some backwater, like Hong Kong? In the US warrants are called options. For some GOOG option chain quotes try this: http://www.optionsxpress.com/quote_option_chain.asp?SESSIONID=&IsSubmited=true
just curious about what you think of warrants. If I am not mistaken warrants are long term options but you can't write them as they are issued by institutions. Is the market for warrant fair or do banks have again a licence to steal there?
Warrants are mainly over the counter since they are usually privately issued so I doubt you will get a fair shake in trying to purchase them OTC.
Actually, it depends where you trade them. In Australia, for example, warrants are traded on the Australian Stock Exchange so you can get a fair deal.
i wouldn't consider hong kong to be a back water place. considering the direction of the dollar it might be more correct to ask about the US. In the UK and US as well as elsewere options whuch are publicly traded which are not guranteed by an organized exchange are usually called warrants
What I know is, warrants are like options, but they are written/ issued by institutions, such as banks. For example DeutscheBank. Sometimes the company itself might issue the warrant, for instance GOOG might issue warrants on itself. But the thing about warrants, when compared to options, usually they have much lower effective gearing, and the secondary market is more illiquid. Furthermore, you cannot write, just buy or sell back. And choices are more limited, usually just Near The Money ones. If you want to find a warrant on GOOG for example, it might be issued by multiple insitutions so you must hunt and see which one is better. I haven't been able to compare deeper, but Im sure warrants have other differences and other defects when compared to standard options. For online quotes, try www.dbwarrants.com. This one is from DeutscheBank. And www.gs.com/client_services/trading_capital_markets/warrants/index.html This one is from Goldman Sachs.