[1] at least one post questions the above arithmetic, but I...

[1] at least one post questions the above arithmetic, but I certainly the difference between head and option is sometimes greater than the conversion cost of 2 cents, making option purchase the way to go.

[2] gauging how head and option prices affect each other is an art (sometimes perhaps a black art); we have heard the "dragging down" mantra recently, but this is only one half of the story and I leave the reader to guess the other half.

[3] "immediately converting"?? - why hurry? the final cost is locked in and all one needs to be cognisant of is the deadline for conversion, which is the 31^st; there is the added bonus of delayed payment, but the downside of the one year tax horizon being later.