On January $2,2025,$ Pearl Company purchases a call option for $$300$ on Merchant common stock. The call option gives Pearl the option to buy $940$ shares of Merchant at a strike price of $$50$ per share. The market price of a Merchant share is $$50$ on January $2,2025($the intrinsic value is therefore $$0).$ On March $31,2025,$ the market price for Merchant stock is $$53$ per share, and the time value of the option is $$180.$

$($a$)$

Prepare the journal entry to record the purchase of the call option on January $2,2025.($List debit entry before credit entry. Credit account titles are automatically indented when amount is entered. Do not indent manually. If no entry is required, select $"$No Entry" for the account titles and enter $0$ for the amounts.