Reading Option Quotes

Introduction

Before you trade options, you will need to know how to read option quotes. Option quotes are available from many of the same sources as stock quotes, but they look different. If you look in your newspaper at an Options Quotation Page you will see the options available listed by company. All of a company's options will be listed together, and the name of the company will often be bolded and abbreviated.

To the right of the name is the strike or exercise price, followed by the Expiration Month. This is followed by the volume and the last trade for calls and then for puts.

Getting an Option Quote

Getting an option quote can be a little tricky. All option symbols are created by taking the option symbol for an underlying security, and adding a two-letter symbol to represent the expiration month and the strike price for the option contract.

The option symbol for exchange-listed options can not be greater than three characters in length. For listed securities, the stock trading symbol and option symbol are normally the same. Exceptions may occur when a new option series is opened or for LEAPs. The option symbols for securities that trade on the Nasdaq will normally be different than the securities' Nasdaq trading symbols. For example, the trading symbol for XZZ Corporation, a hypothetical Nasdaq security, may be XZZC, but its option symbol is XZC. This means that to find a quote for options trading on XZZ Corporation's stock, you must begin with its option trading symbol, XZC. The same rule applies to Index options.

The first letter that appears after the security's option symbol denotes whether the option is a call or a put and the month the option expires. For all calls, A represents expiration in January , B February and so on. For all puts, M represents expiration in January, N February and so on.

The last letter represents the option's strike price. The strike symbol, A, in the chart below represents 5 and would also represent 105, 205, etc. Note that A represents 5 and not 0. So, putting it all together, the symbol for an XZZC January 105 call would be XZCAA. The table below shows you the conversion chart. Please note that the strike price table may not apply when the underlying security has had a stock split, merger or other similar action.

The tables below show you the option expiration month and option strike price conversion codes. Please note that the strike price table may not apply when the underlying security has had a stock split, merger or other similar action or to Index options. Please consult the Chicago Board Options Exchange website (www.cboe.com) for more information.

EXPIRATION MONTH CODES
	Expiration		Calls		Puts
	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	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J
Strike Price	5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40	45	50
Code	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T
Strike Price	55	60	65	70	75	80	85	90	95	100
Code	U	V	W	X	Y	Z
Strike Price	7.5	12.5	17.5	22.5	27.5	32.5

On our website, if you wanted to receive a quote on Gro-Grub Foods October 60 calls, you would enter +XYZJL into the Snap Quote field, then click on the Go button. You would then receive your quote. Alternately, if you go to the symbol lookup window and enter the stock symbol and click on the box for Options, a list of all options available for that stock will appear.

Once you have received your quote you will see that it provides the same basic information as a stock quote including the last, the bid and ask, the high and low and the volume.

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