Lions, and tigers and no option symbols! Oh My! | PowerOptions Web Log
Option symbols are going away… That’s right, stock options symbols as we’ve known them are going away. Beginning on February 12, 2010 the current option symbols will be replaced with new stock option symbols. The change is nothing to be scared about — not nearly as scary as Dorothy’s lions and tigers and bears. Old vs. New… The old stock options symbols were contained in 3-to-5 characters. The new symbols will be generated with 9-to-22 characters. The old stock options symbol format consisted of: Option Root – One to three characters representing underlying stock Month of Expiration & Call/Put – One character representing month of expiration & call/put Strike Price – One character representing the strike price For example, a 2010 call option for Intel (INTC) with a month of expiration of January and a strike price of $17.5, the option would be represented as: Option Root (1-3) Month of...