what are the greeks in investing 
the greeks are variables that are used by investors and analysts to assess risk in the options market the name comes from the greek letter that is used to represent each variable such as delta gamma theta and vega these are the first partial derivatives of an options pricing model each greek tells investors something about how that option moves or the risk associated with it the bottom linewhile linear relationships between variables can be plotted with a straight line nonlinear relationships are not predictable from a straight line in a nonlinear relationship changes in the dependent variable are caused by a variety of inputs so the value doesn t change in direct proportion to the independent variable some investment classes such as options are highly nonlinear which can make it more difficult for investors to predict their losses or gains in response to certain market changes to understand these investments investors will use more complex modeling techniques to estimate potential gains or losses over time 