Option symbol

An option symbol is a code by which options are identified on a futures exchange.

(Explanation why this article is obsolete)

This article is obsolete, as of February 12th, 2010 when the five-character ticker format described in this article stopped being used in the US and Canada.

New standard is now fully in place, as in the first few months after February 12th the LEAP roots and additional roots needed to handle large amounts of options for a given issuer were consolidated into a single root ticker for a given underlying symbol. (see See Also section for more information)

In general

The ticker (trading) symbols for US options typically look like this: IBMAF. This consists of a root symbol ('IBM') + month code ('A') + strike price code ('F'). The root symbol is the symbol of the stock on the stock exchange. After this comes the month code, A-L mean January-December calls, M-X mean January-December puts. The strike price code is a letter corresponding with a certain strike price (which letter corresponds with which strike price depends on the stock). See the external link to investopedia for a chart of strike prices.

NASDAQ option symbols

There are many exceptions to this simple case. The main one is NASDAQ stocks. NASDAQ stock symbols are always a minimum of four letters, whereas the base symbol of an option is always three letters. These are mapped arbitrarily by the options authorities. So, for example, American Eagle Outfitters stock trades on NASDAQ under AEOS, but its options all begin with AQP. There is no rhyme or reason to this mapping, other than the alphabetical sequence is usually roughly consistent.

NYSE/AMEX option symbols

For NYSE/AMEX stocks, the base symbol is ALWAYS the same as the symbol used on the stock exchange. The various stock exchanges have procedures in place to make sure consistent use of symbols, so IBM is always IBM Corporation, even if IBM is the NYSE's stock and AMEX really wants to give it to some other company with a similar name).

LEAPS option symbols

Another big exception is LEAPS. Besides its 'regular' option series AQP, American Eagle also has 2007 LEAPS that trade under VXX, and 2008 LEAPS that trade under WXD. This basically overcomes the limitation that the 'expiry month letter' scheme does not contemplate the same month existing in different years.

Additional symbols

Sometimes the price of a stock moves so rapidly that it runs out of 'strike price letters' and additional symbols are required to accommodate the new prices. Google has moved hundreds of dollars per share in the last year, and as a result has many different symbols outstanding. For example, as of November 2005, the December 2005 options include GOQ (prices in the $100 range), GOU and GGD (prices in the $200 range), GOP (prices in the $500 range) and probably many others.

See also

• Stock symbols
• Options Clearing Corporation's Options Symbology Initiative (OSI), mandates an industrywide change to a new option symbol structure, resulting in option symbols up to 23 characters in length. Mandatory cutover to begin using explicit data elements is February 12, 2010. March 2010 - May 2010 will be the symbol consolidation period in which all outgoing option roots will be replaced with the underlying stock symbol. By June 2009, firms have to accept options data in new format. Symbology Initiative Overview.

External links

• Explanation of option symbols at investopedia, includes a strike price chart