What Is The Options Expiration Cycle?

If you are new to the Thinkorswim platform, it can be a little overwhelming with all the bells and whistles and tabs. One of the things that can be a little tricky at the outset is figuring out how to buy to open and sell to close ( enter & exit) Options trades.  But first…

A block trade is, as the name suggests, a single large order that hits the Unusual Options Activity Tape all at once.  A Sweep is a large order that is broken up and hits the tape in many different small orders.  Here is an example of Block Trade:  And here is an example of a…

This is when you sell an options contract and simultaneously buy one with a later expiration date and a higher or lower strike price. For example, if your sell to open the AAPL NOV 145.00 Call and then buy to open the AAPL DEC 150.00 Call , you have created a diagonal spread. See also:…

How To Find The Options Chain Just pull up the stock chart and click on the “Trade” tab in the upper left corner. If you are on a mobile device then you can click here to see how to open the Thinkorswim Option Chain on a mobile device. The Option Chain Explained After you open…

Adjustments may be made to some of the standardized terms of outstanding options upon the occurrence of certain events related to the underlying security. The determination of whether to adjust outstanding options in response to a particular event, and, if so, what the adjustment should be, is made by OCC, taking into consideration policies established…

An Iron Butterfly is a trade that is created by putting on a Short Straddle (selling at the money puts and calls) and a Long Straddle (buying out of the money puts and calls). These types of trades limit the amount of money that you can make and it also limits the potential loss. But…