Reading an option symbol
Regular option quotes can sometimes be complicated and hard to comprehend. The following explains how option symbols are constructed and how they work.
To determine what the option symbol is, you need to know that they are broken down into three separate sections.
Example:
Option Symbol XYZAF
The first three letters of the option symbol represent the underlying security. (Some securities have options that contain only 3 or 4 characters.) For a listed stock, these first letters are generally the underlying security's symbol. For NASDAQ stocks, it can vary greatly.
The next to last symbol represents the expiration month and identifies whether it is a put or a call. As shown in the Expiration Month Code Table below, letters A through L are used for call option contracts. Letters M through X are used for put option contracts. In this example, the letter "A" indicates that this is a January call.
Calls Puts
Jan A M
Feb B N
Mar C O
Apr D P
May E Q
Jun F R
July G S
Aug H T
Sept I U
Oct J V
Nov K W
Dec L X
The last letter represents the strike price. In this example, the letter "F" represents a strike price ending with 30.
Strike Price Codes:
A 5 105 205 305
B 10 110 210 310
C 15 115 215 315
D 20 120 220 320
E 25 125 225 325
F 30 130 230 330
G 35 135 235 335
H 40 140 240 340
I 45 145 245 345
J 50 150 250 350
K 55 155 255 355
L 60 160 260 360
M 65 165 265 365
N 70 170 270 370
O 75 175 275 375
P 80 180 280 380
Q 85 185 285 385
R 90 190 290 390
S 95 195 295 395
T 100 200 300 400
U 7½ 37½ 67½ 97½
V 12½ 42½ 72½ 102½
W 17½ 47½ 77½ 107½
X 22½ 52½ 82½ 112½
Y 27½ 57½ 87½ 117½
Z 32½ 62½ 92½ 122½
Generally, when a stock split, corporate merger, or spinoff occurs, new strike prices will be generated and a letter will be assigned that may not coincide with the above chart.
Symbols for short-dated options, which are also called "Weeklys", are slightly different from standard option symbols. Because their expiration schedule is different from standard options expiration, the third character of a short-dated option symbol corresponds to the week of the month during which the series expires.
As with standard option symbols, the first three characters represent the underlying security.
The third character in the option symbol will be:
"A" for options expiring on the first Friday of a month
"B" for options expiring on the second Friday of a month
"D" for options expiring on the fourth Friday of a month
"E" for options expiring on the fifth Friday of a month (if necessary)
Please note: There is no "C" because there will be no short-dated options listed for expiration on the third Friday of the month
The fourth character represents the month of expiration and put/call feature, which are the same as those for standard options, listed above.
The final character of a short-dated option symbol represents the strike price, which are also the same as those for standard options, listed above.
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