New Option Industry Format (Effective 1 Feb 2010)
Stock options symbols as we’ve known are changing. Starting February 2010 the Options Clearing Commission (OCC) has voted to chance current option symbols to be replaced with a new option symbol format. The current format is limited as the options business has grown and diversified. Hence, the OCC has decided to replace the five-character OPRA code with a new 21-character symbology key for identifying and trading options. The new, longer symbol format will be able to accommodate new products and support future growth and better meet the need of option traders and the industry. The conversion begins in February 1st, 2010.
New Option Symbol Format:
|
Required |
Stock |
Required |
Expiration Year |
Call/Put Month |
Strike Price |
Expiry Day |
Region Code |
|
O: |
IBM |
|
14 |
B |
150.00 |
D5 |
A |
| O:GS 14B150.00 | Goldman Sachs FEB 2014 Call for 150.00 |
| O:IBM 14O75.00 | IBM MAR 2014 Put for 75.00 |
| O:IBM 14O100.00B | IBM MAR 2014 Put for 100.00 Boston Exchange |
| Option Symbol Format Key: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Required Option Distinction | Option Symbols always start with O: or o: (letter o, not number zero) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock Symbol | Underlying Stock Symbol for option (root) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Required Blank Space | Required space between stock symbol and options information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Expiration Year | Two digit expiration year of option (14 = 2014) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Put/Call Month Code |
|
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| Strike Price | Default value in 1/100ths – Example - 25.00 or 175.00 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Expiry Day (optional) | D - for Daily/Quarterly expiry + day of month 1 - 31 Example: D31 Used for Quarterly, Weekly or any expiry other than 3rd Saturday |
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| Region Code (optional) |
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