Option naming convention


In financial markets, an option naming convention is a method of identifying which of many possible options is being quoted or traded.

Standard Equity Option Convention

US equity options, typically cleared by the Options Clearing Corporation, underwent an initiative between 2008 and 2010 to change the standard symbology. The proposed revision was meant to address several deficiencies with the old standard convention described below. In particular:
The new symbology does away with the letter codes for strike and expiration, and instead employ a 21-byte series key in the style of Root symbol + Expiration Year + Expiration Month + Expiration Day + Call/Put Indicator + Strike Price:
For Example, an April 16, 2015 $30.00 Call Option on Yahoo would be listed as "YHOO150416C00030000".
All options that settle into the same underlier share the same symbol field.

Old convention

Prior to 2010, standard equity option naming convention in North America, as used by the Options Clearing Corporation, was as follows:
An option code looks like this: SLW150515C19
This is a call option on SLW
Stock option names are written in the following format: SYMBOL+MONTH+STRIKE
MonthCallPut
JanuaryAM
FebruaryBN
MarchCO
AprilDP
MayEQ
JuneFR
JulyGS
AugustHT
SeptemberIU
OctoberJV
NovemberKW
DecemberLX

Strike Price Codes