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Specifications For All Equity Options
Unit of Trade: 100 shares per option contract.
Premium Quotations: Stated in points and fractions. One point equals $100.
Minimum tick for series trading below 3 is .05 ($5.00) and for all other
series .10 ($10.00).
Strike Price Intervals: 2-1/2 points for stocks trading below $25, 5 points
for those trading from $25 to $200, and 10 points for those trading above
$200.
Exercise Style: American. Option may be exercised on any business day
prior to the expiration date.
Expiration Months: Two near-term months plus two additional months in
the January, February or March quarterly cycle.
Expiration Dates: The Saturday immediately following the third Friday
of the expiration month.
Position Limits: Limits vary according to the number of outstaing share
and trading volume. The largest, most frequently traded stocks have an
option position limit of 75,000 contracts; smaller capitalization stocks
may offer position limits of 60,000, 31,500, 22,500 or 13,500 contracts.
Customer hedge exemptions are available.
Minimum Customer Margin for Uncovered Writers: The dollar amount of the
premium plus 20% of the underlying security value minus the amount by
which the option is out of the money (if any) with a minimum of the premium
plus 10% of the underlying security value.
Trading Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).
Exercise Settlement Price: Strike price times $100.
Exercise Settlement Time: Exercise notices tendered on any business day
will result in delivery of the underlying stock on the third (T+3) business
day following exercise.
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Specifications For Equity LEAPS® (Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities®)
Exchanges: AMEX, CBOE, PHLX, PCX.
Description: Equity LEAPS® are American-style options on certain equities
that have terms of up to three years. With the exception of the specifications
listed below, Equity LEAPS® specifications are the same as those for regular-term
equity options. Equity LEAPS® have unique symbols to distinguish them
from their corresponding regular-term options. Options expiring in 2001
generally begin with a Z; those expiring in 2002 generally begin with
a W.
Strike Prices: Initial strike prices are generally set within 25% above
or below the underlying stock's price.
Expiration Dates: AMEX-, CBOE-, PCX- and PHXL-traded LEAPS® expire in
January of the designated year. Expiration occurs on the Saturday following
the third Friday of the expiration month. All equity LEAPS® expire in
January.
Position and Exercise Limits: Positions must be aggregated with those
of any other option on the same underlying security for the purpose of
position and exercise limits.
Standard Specifications For All Index Options
Unit of Trade: One contract equals $100 (the index multiplier) times the
index level.
Premium Quotations: Stated in points and fractions. One point equals $100.
Minimum tick for series trading below 3 is 1/16 ($6.25), and for all other
series, 1/8 ($12.50). NYA options have a minimum tick of 1/16 for all
series.
Strike Price Intervals: Generally, index options are listed at 5 point
intervals to bracket the current value of the index. Higher index values
may result in larger strike price intervals. Contact each exchange for
specific information. NYA and MID options are also listed in selective
2-1/2 point intervals in the nearest two months. Generally, Index LEAPS®
are listed in 2-1/2 point intervals. SPX options may be listed with up
to 25 point intervals in the far-term months. OEX options are listed in
10 point intervals in the far-term month. SPL options are only listed
in 25 point intervals. JPN options with more than one year to expiration
are listed in 50 point intervals. Strike price intervals of 2-1/2 points
may be available for WSX options.
Exercise Style: Index options are designated as either American-style
or European-style. American-style options can be exercised on any business
day prior to expiration. European-style options can be exercised only
on the last trading day prior to expiration.
Expiration Dates: The Saturday immediately following the third Friday
of the expiration month.
Exercise Settlement Price: The dollar difference between the index number
and the strike price of the contract, multiplied by 100. The index number
is generally determined following the close of trading on the day the
exercise notice is submitted. The exceptions are expiring BIX, BKX, BMX,
BTK, CEX, CMR, CRX, CTN, CYC, DDX, DJX, DOT, DRG, DTX, DUX, DXE, ECM,
EGI, EUR, FPP, GHA, GIN, GIP, GOX, GSM, GSO, GSV, GTC, HCX, HKO, ICX,
IIX, INX, IUX, JPN, MEX, MID, MOX, MSH, MUT, NFT, NDX, NYA, OSX, OTX,
RLX, RUT, SGX, SOX, SPX, SVX, TRX, TXX, WSX, XAL, XBD, XEF, XII, XNG,
YLS and options which settle on the opening prices of underlying stocks
in the index on the day after the last day of trading (symbol AXS for
BBS for BIX, BKO for BKX, BMZ for BMX, BTS for BTK, CSO for CMR, CTM for
CTN, CXS for CEX, CXV for CRX, CYO for CYC, DDO for DDX, DJS for DJX,
DNS for DTX, DOS for DOT, DRO for DRG, DTO for XDT, DUS for DUX, ECS for
ECM, ESO for EGI, EUV for EUR, FPS for FPP, GDS for GOX, GGZ for GIN,
GHZ for GHA, GMZ for GSM, GPZ for GIP, GSZ for GSO, GTZ for GTC, GVZ for
GSV, HCS for HCX, ICC for ICX, IIV for IIX, ITS for INX, IUS for IUX,
JPV for JPN, KDY for HKO, MEO for MEX, MIV for MID, MOY for MOX, MVH for
MSH, MWS for MUT, NDS for NDX, NGV for XNG, NMS for NFT, NWO for DXE,
NYX for NYA, OSV for OSX, OTS for OTX, PTO for PCX, RLS for RUT, RRS for
RLX, SET for SPX, SGS for SGX, SVS for SVX, SX for SOX, TRS for TRX, TTS
for TXX, WSO for WSX, XAO for XAL, XBS for XBD, XIF for XEF, XSV for XII,
and YSO for YLS). EUR, JPN and NIK options have several unique exercise
settlement characteristics which are described in their respective sections.
Exercise Settlement Time: Exercise notices tendered will result in the
delivery of cash on the next business day.
Trading Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) for broad-based indices
(CMR, CYC, DJX, EGI, FNC, FSX, HKO, JPN, LEX, LNU, LRU, LSZ, LSW, LUR,
MEX, MID, NDX, NNA, NYA, OAX, OCX, OEX, PSE, RUT, SPL, SPX, WRU, WSX,
XII, XMI, XOC, ZRU) or 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) for industry
specific indices (BIX, BKX, BMX, BTK, CEX, CRX, CTN, CWX, DDX, DJX, DOT,
DRG, DXE, ECM, FPP, GAX, HCX, ICX, IIX, IUX, LBG, MSH, MOX, MUT, OSX,
OTX, RLX, SOX, TRX, UTY, XAL, XAU, XAX, XBD, XCI, XEF, XNG, XOI, YLS,
YTK) or 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (Eastern Time) for EUR.
Minimum Customer Margin for Uncovered Writers: For broad-based indices:
the dollar amount of the premium plus 15% of the current underlying index
value (index number x $100) minus the amount by which the option is out-of-the-money
(if any) with a minimum of the premium plus 10% of the current index value.
For industry-specific and narrow-based indices: the dollar amount of the
premium plus 20% of the current underlying index value (index number x
$100) minus the amount by which the option is out-of-the-money (if any)
with a minimum of the premium plus 10% of the current index value.
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Specifications For Standardized Currency Options
Exchange: PHLX
Underlying Currencies Available/Symbols:
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