Option naming convention

Short description: Method in financial markets to identify the option which is being quoted or traded

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In financial markets, an option naming convention is a method of identifying which of many possible options is being quoted or traded.

## Contents

* 1 Standard Equity Option Convention
* 2 Old convention
* 2.1 Expiration Month Codes
* 2.2 Strike Price Codes
* 3 References

## Standard Equity Option Convention

US equity options, typically cleared by the Options Clearing Corporation, underwent an initiative between 2008 and 2010 to change the standard symbology.[1][2] The proposed revision was meant to address several deficiencies with the old standard convention described below. In particular:[2]

* Lack of uniformity for LEAP option convention (i.e. options with maturity greater than one year)
* Use of illogical identifiers for both options and underliers
* Difficulties encountered when rolling LEAP options to standard options as they age.
* Ambiguous naming, such as when options for both 105 strike and 205 strike exist on the same expiration for an underlier.

The new symbology does away with the letter codes for strike and expiration, and instead employ a 21-byte series key in the style of Root symbol (ticker symbol) + Expiration Year (yy) + Expiration Month (mm) + Expiration Day (dd) + Call/Put Indicator (C or P) + Strike Price:[2]

* Symbol (max. 6 characters)
* Year (yy)
* Month (mm)
* Day (dd)
* Call or Put (C/P)
* Strike Price (#####.###) listed with five digits before the decimal and three digits following the decimal

For example, an April 16, 2015 $30.00 Call Option on Yahoo would be listed as "YHOO150416C00030000".[3]

All options that settle into the same underlier (e.g. 100 shares of the underlier) share the same symbol field.[2]

## Old convention

Prior to 2010,[1] standard equity option naming convention in North America, as used by the Options Clearing Corporation, was as follows:

For example, an Apple Inc AAPL.O call option that would have expired in December 2007 at a $122.50 strike price would be displayed as APVLZ in old convention (AAPL071222C00122500 in new convention).

Stock option names are written in the following format: SYMBOL+MONTH+STRIKE

* SYMBOL = Option Root Symbol, normally the stock's ticker symbol
* MONTH = Month the option expires
* STRIKE = Strike price

### Expiration Month Codes

Month  | Call  | Put

|
|

January  | A  | M
February  | B  | N
March  | C  | O
April  | D  | P
May  | E  | Q
June  | F  | R
July  | G  | S
August  | H  | T
September  | I  | U
October  | J  | V
November  | K  | W
December  | L  | X

### Strike Price Codes

Code  | Strike Prices  | Code  | Strike Prices

|
|
|

A | 5  | 105  | 205  | 305  | 405  | 505  | N | 70  | 170  | 270  | 370  | 470  | 570
B | 10  | 110  | 210  | 310  | 410  | 510  | O | 75  | 175  | 275  | 375  | 475  | 575
C | 15  | 115  | 215  | 315  | 415  | 515  | P | 80  | 180  | 280  | 380  | 480  | 580
D | 20  | 120  | 220  | 320  | 420  | 520  | Q | 85  | 185  | 285  | 385  | 485  | 585
E | 25  | 125  | 225  | 325  | 425  | 525  | R | 90  | 190  | 290  | 390  | 490  | 590
F | 30  | 130  | 230  | 330  | 430  | 530  | S | 95  | 195  | 295  | 395  | 495  | 595
G | 35  | 135  | 235  | 335  | 435  | 535  | T | 100  | 200  | 300  | 400  | 500  | 600
H | 40  | 140  | 240  | 340  | 440  | 540  | U | 7.5  | 37.5  | 67.5  | 97.5  | 127.5  | 157.5
I | 45  | 145  | 245  | 345  | 445  | 545  | V | 12.5  | 42.5  | 72.5  | 102.5  | 132.5  | 162.5
J | 50  | 150  | 250  | 350  | 450  | 550  | W | 17.5  | 47.5  | 77.5  | 107.5  | 137.5  | 167.5
K | 55  | 155  | 255  | 355  | 455  | 555  | X | 22.5  | 52.5  | 82.5  | 112.5  | 142.5  | 172.5
L | 60  | 160  | 260  | 360  | 460  | 560  | Y | 27.5  | 57.5  | 87.5  | 117.5  | 147.5  | 177.5
M | 65  | 165  | 265  | 365  | 465  | 565  | Z | 32.5  | 62.5  | 92.5  | 122.5  | 152.5  | 182.5

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moon, Angela. "Options trading to simplify with new symbols: OCC" (in en-US). U.S.. https://www.reuters.com/article/businesspro-us-options-trading-codes/options-trading-to-simplify-with-new-symbols-occ-idUSTRE60O50I20100125.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Symbology Initiative". https://www.theocc.com/components/docs/initiatives/symbology/symbology_initiative_v1_8.pdf.
3. ↑ "How to read an option symbol". https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN13884.html.

* v
* t
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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
* FX
* Option styles
* Put
* Warrants

Exotic options|

* Asian
* Barrier
* Basket
* Binary
* Chooser
* Cliquet
* Commodore
* Compound
* Forward start
* Interest rate
* Lookback
* Mountain range
* Rainbow
* Swaption

Combinations|

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

Spreads|

* Back
* Bear
* Box
* Bull
* Butterfly
* Calendar
* Diagonal
* Intermarket
* Ratio
* Vertical

Valuation|

* Binomial
* Black
* Black–Scholes model
* Finite difference
* Garman–Kohlhagen
* Margrabe's formula
* Put–call parity
* Simulation
* Real options valuation
* Trinomial
* Vanna–Volga pricing

Swaps|

* Amortising
* Asset
* Basis
* Conditional variance
* Constant maturity
* Correlation
* Credit default
* Currency
* Dividend
* Equity
* Forex
* Forward Rate Agreement
* Inflation
* Interest rate
* Overnight indexed
* Total return
* Variance
* Volatility
* Year-on-Year Inflation-Indexed
* Zero Coupon Inflation-Indexed
* Zero Coupon Swap

* Forwards
* Futures

* Contango
* Currency future
* Dividend future
* Forward market
* Forward price
* Forwards pricing
* Forward rate
* Futures pricing
* 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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