Open interest

Short description: Total number of unsettled contracts

Open interest (also known as open contracts or open commitments) refers to the total number of outstanding derivative contracts that have not been settled (offset by delivery).[1]

For each buyer of a futures contract there must be a seller. From the time the buyer or seller opens the contract until the counter-party closes it, that contract is considered 'open'.[2]

Open interest also gives key information regarding the liquidity of an option. If there is no open interest for an option, there is no secondary market for that option. When options have large open interest, they have a large number of buyers and sellers. An active secondary market will increase the odds of getting option orders filled at good prices. All other things being equal, the larger the open interest, the easier it will be to trade that option at a reasonable spread between the bid and ask.[3]

## As a confirming indicator

An increase in open interest along with an increase in price is said by proponents of technical analysis[4] to confirm an upward trend. Similarly, an increase in open interest along with a decrease in price confirms a downward trend. An increase or decrease in prices while open interest remains flat or declining may indicate a possible trend reversal.

The relationship between the prevailing price trend and open interest can be summarized by the following table:[5][6]

Price | Open Interest | Interpretation

|
|

Rising | Rising | Market is strong
Rising | Falling | Market is weakening
Falling | Rising | Market is strengthening
Falling | Falling | Market is weak

## References

1. ↑ "Daily Exchange Volume And Open Interest". CME Group. http://www.cmegroup.com/market-data/volume-open-interest/exchange-volume.html.
2. ↑ "Open Interest vs Volume in Options". https://warsoption.com/examples/open-interest-vs-volume-in-options/.
3. ↑ "Options Trading Volume And Open Interest". http://www.nasdaq.com/investing/options-trading-volume-open-interest.stm.
4. ↑ Murphy, John J. (1999). Technical analysis of the financial markets: A comprehensive guide to trading methods and applications. Penguin. p. 170-171.
5. ↑ "Open Interest". http://www.tradingpicks.com/open_interest.htm.
6. ↑ Kline, Donna (2001). Fundamentals of the futures market. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 142, 143 of 256. https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsoffu00klin. Retrieved 2010-09-01. "open interest."

## External links

* Open Interest
* Interpret Price Volume and Open Interest
* Script error: The function "in_lang" does not exist. Open Interest of most important italian stocks

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Derivatives market

Derivative (finance)

Options|

| Terms|

* Credit spread
* Debit spread
* Exercise
* Expiration
* Moneyness
* Open interest
* Pin risk
* Risk-free interest rate
* Strike price
* the Greeks
* Volatility

|

Vanilla options|

* American
* Bond option
* Call
* Employee stock option
* European
* Fixed income
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* Option styles
* Put
* Warrants

Exotic options|

* Asian
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* Compound
* Forward start
* Interest rate
* Lookback
* Mountain range
* Rainbow
* Swaption

Combinations|

* Collar
* Covered call
* Fence
* Iron butterfly
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* Straddle
* Strangle
* Protective put
* Risk reversal

Spreads|

* Back
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* Box
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* Calendar
* Diagonal
* Intermarket
* Ratio
* Vertical

Valuation|

* Binomial
* Black
* Black–Scholes model
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* Garman–Kohlhagen
* Margrabe's formula
* Put–call parity
* Simulation
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* Trinomial
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Swaps|

* Amortising
* Asset
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* Zero Coupon Swap

* Forwards
* Futures

* Contango
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* Forward market
* Forward price
* Forwards pricing
* Forward rate
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* Interest rate future
* Margin
* Normal backwardation
* Single-stock futures
* Slippage
* Stock market index future

Exotic derivatives|

* Energy derivative
* Freight derivative
* Inflation derivative
* Property derivative
* Weather derivative

Other derivatives|

* Collateralized debt obligation (CDO)
* Constant proportion portfolio insurance
* Contract for difference
* Credit-linked note (CLN)
* Credit default option
* Credit derivative
* Equity-linked note (ELN)
* Equity derivative
* Foreign exchange derivative
* Fund derivative
* Interest rate derivative
* Mortgage-backed security
* Power reverse dual-currency note (PRDC)

Market issues|

* Consumer debt
* Corporate debt
* Government debt
* Great Recession
* Municipal debt
* Tax policy

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