The Option Chain allows you to view option prices in real time, so you can explore a full array of strategies, from basic calls and puts to more advanced Collars and Condors. You can also access advanced option analytics, such as profit and loss diagrams, Greeks, and time decay.
Just type the symbol of the underlying security into the Symbol box and click enter. A fully customizable grid containing all options data will appear. You can drag, drop, and resize columns by manipulating the headers. Clicking on the header once will change the order in which the data is displayed. Each expiration subsection can be collapsed or expanded by clicking on the appropriate header bar.
To place an order from the option chain, click on any Bid or Ask price to populate a single- or multi-leg trade ticket. You can also use the Action menu next to an individual contract or right-click to populate and launch a trade ticket.
Visit the Settings section of Help for information on how to customize the data displayed in the Option Chain.
The Strategy dropdown menu allows you to select the option strategies you would like to display in the chain: Calls, Puts, Calls & Puts, Butterfly, Buy Write, Calendar, Collar, Combo, Condor, Diagonal, Iron Condor, Ratio, Straddle, Strangle, and Vertical.
The Option Type drop down will display dynamically when an underlying security has more than one option type per underlying. For example, if a security has both standard and mini-options the Option Type drop down will display.
The Expiration Bar contains all available expirations for the requested underlying security and allows you to choose which expiration dates you wish to display in the chain. By default, the front three standard expiration dates, along with any weeklies, will be selected and displayed in the grid for single-leg strategies. Clicking the various expiration dates in the bar will show or hide the applicable data in the chain. Expiration choices will persist when changing symbols. The left and right arrow buttons will scroll the bar backwards or forwards in time by one date. You can click and hold the arrows for continuous scrolling.
Multi-leg strategies, such as the Calendar and Diagonal, require that you specify a near and far expiration date. These dates will be highlighted, and the near/far highlight boxes can be dragged and dropped to preferred dates. For all other multi-leg strategies, you can display only one expiration date at a time.
Any nonstandard expiration will be noted by a single letter next to the date in the expiration bar, including W for weekly options and Q for quarterlies.
Note: use the (W) icon to the right of the filter control to hide or show weekly options in the chain.
Use Filters to display exactly what you want in the option chain. Some filters, such as the Offset Filter, only apply to certain strategies. The appropriate filter choices will display based on the strategy you have selected.
For single-leg option strategies, you may choose to limit the number of strikes displayed for each expiration date in the grid. You can choose to see all the available strike prices, or limit the display to no more than 5, 10, or 20 around the money strikes at a time. You may also choose to display only options that have strike prices within a certain range.
For multi-leg option strategies, you may choose to limit the number of strikes based on whether they are at-the-money, in-the-money, or out-of-the-money.
Hover your cursor over a specific option in the chain to reveal an Action menu next to the Last Price. Open the Action menu and click View Bid Analytics or View Ask Analytics to show the analytics display at the bottom of the Option Chain tool. This display offers a profit and loss diagram that includes maximum profit, maximum loss, and breakeven price at expiration. Real-time Greeks data is also available, including Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega, Rho, and Implied Volatility. For single-leg option trades, a time decay chart will also display, showing the breakdown of the contract price into time value and intrinsic value across multiple expirations. You may hide the analytics display by clicking the X in the upper-right-hand corner.
For more detailed profit and loss information, click on the View Full Plots link from within the Analytics display.
The Call/Put Ratio (C/P Ratio) visual displays both the ratio of the current trading day's volume of call options to put options, as well as the ratio of open interest of call options to put options as of the prior trading day's close. The Call/Put Volume Ratio is calculated by dividing the day's total call volume by the day's total put volume across all contracts for a specific underlying security. The Call/Put Open Interest Ratio is calculated by dividing the total call open interest by the total put open interest as of the prior trading day's close across all contracts for a specific underlying security.
Call/Put Ratios can be used to gauge how investors feel about a particular security. Greater volume or open interest on puts than calls may indicate that investors feel bearish; more calls than puts may indicate that investors feel bullish. Seeing both the volume ratio (from current day) and the open interest ratio (from prior day) can help you assess both short- and long-term sentiment on a particular security.
Hovering your cursor over the Call/Put visual will display the specific ratio of puts to calls.
When enabled, the Histogram feature will add a highlighted bar to the Volume and Open Interest columns. These bars show the relative distribution of volume and open interest among the options within each expiration. It's a quick way to see the data and spot anomalies where volume or open interest may be accumulating in out-of-the money options. The Histogram feature is not available for multi-leg option trades. To turn the Histogram feature on or off, click on the Histogram icon at the top of the Option Chain.
When enabled, this feature will identify any adjusted options by displaying Adj next to the strike price of the option. Hover your cursor over the Adj to reveal a popup containing details about the contract specifications and deliverables. Use the Adj icon at the top of the Option Chain to toggle the display of adjusted options on or off.
You can export the Option Chain data into a Microsoft Excel (.xls) or Comma-Separated Values (.csv) file. This allows you to save the data for offline use in the format of your choice.
