International Securities Exchange, Inc. - Tools & Reference - Product Specifications

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Product Specifications - Equity Options


SPECIFICATIONS FOR ALL EQUITY OPTIONS

Unit of Trade: 100 shares per option contract.

Premium Quotations: Stated in full points and decimals. One point equals $100. Minimum tick for series trading below 3 is .05 ($5.00) and for all other series .10 ($10.00).

Strike Price Intervals: 2-1/2 points for stocks trading below $25, 5 points for those trading from $25 to $200, and 10 points for those trading above $200.

Exercise Style: American. Option may be exercised on any business day prior to the expiration date.

Expiration Months: Two near-term months plus two additional months in the January, February or March quarterly cycle.

Expiration Dates: The Saturday immediately following the third Friday of the expiration month.

Position Limits: Limits vary according to the number of outstaing share and trading volume. The largest, most frequently traded stocks have an option position limit of 75,000 contracts; smaller capitalization stocks may offer position limits of 60,000, 31,500, 22,500 or 13,500 contracts. Customer hedge exemptions are available.

Minimum Customer Margin for Uncovered Writers: The dollar amount of the premium plus 20% of the underlying security value minus the amount by which the option is out of the money (if any) with a minimum of the premium plus 10% of the underlying security value.

Trading Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:02 p.m. (Eastern Time).

Exercise Settlement Price: Strike price times $100.

Exercise Settlement Time: Exercise notices tendered on any business day will result in delivery of the underlying stock on the third (T+3) business day following exercise.


SPECIFICATIONS FOR EQUITY LEAPS�

Description: Equity LEAPS� are American-style options on certain equities that have terms of up to three years. With the exception of the specifications listed below, Equity LEAPS� specifications are the same as those for regular-term equity options. Equity LEAPS� have unique symbols to distinguish them from their corresponding regular-term options. Options expiring in 2001 generally begin with a Z; those expiring in 2002 generally begin with a W.

Strike Prices: Initial strike prices are generally set within 25% above or below the underlying stock's price.

Expiration Dates: AMEX-, CBOE-, PCX- and PHXL-traded LEAPS� expire in January of the designated year. Expiration occurs on the Saturday following the third Friday of the expiration month. All equity LEAPS� expire in January.

Position and Exercise Limits: Positions must be aggregated with those of any other option on the same underlying security for the purpose of position and exercise limits.