Quarterly Options

Rickster said: "I was checking out some options today and ran across some that expired on 3/29/07. This didnt seem right since options normally expire on the third Friday of the month. So I checked out the expiration calendar. And guess what. Starting in 2007, it we now have quarterly options. Anyone up on this? How widespread are these quarterly options? So far I see them on the QQQQ and the DIA. [url]http://www.cboe.com/AboutCBOE/xcal2007.pdf[/url]"

drdan said: "Here is some info for you Rickster - [url]http://www.cboe.com/micro/quarterly/introduction.aspx[/url] I have not tried these at all. I do like playing around with the weeklys though, they are probably as much fun as daytrading. I haven't been brave enough to play them with real dollars, especially after being killed a couple of times when the market went way south. Heres the weeklys info [url]http://www.cboe.com/micro/weeklys/introduction.aspx[/url]"

Rickster said: "Hey thanks Doc. Was hopin you were watchin. Next question: Do you have a source for historical option PRICE data? I used to get it from a couple of different web sites, but they no longer offer it (at least for free)."

drdan said: "Well if you are looking for a research paper or some real research I would suggest buying it from someplace like [url]www.historicaloptiondata.com[/url] Otherwise it is a pain in the butt but here is the free way to get it for unexpired options - OX uses Prophet.net for their java charts so if you have an account with them you can do this or just go to prophet.net click on quotes then options, pick the stock and then the option and chart it out for 6 months or a year and it will give you the prices of the options. With OX just type in the symbol of the option make sure you include the '.' before the symbol in the java chart and it will chart it out for you. That is the only free way to check historical option prices that I know of without paying for it and unfortunately it will only give you data on what actually traded , so if no option contracts were traded that day no data. Also if only a few contracts traded that day you will not know what the high and the low of the bid/ask were."

Rickster said: "Bingo. Prophet.net is just what I was looking for. Thanks again! I'll tell you what I am up to. For years now, options buyers have been on the losing end of the trades. But last month the tables turned. So, on the premise that we MAY be experiencing a major shift in market structure, I am considering buying some options. But, I need to do some homework first."

thezster said: "[QUOTE=Rickster]Bingo. Prophet.net is just what I was looking for. Thanks again! I'll tell you what I am up to. For years now, options buyers have been on the losing end of the trades. But last month the tables turned. So, on the premise that we MAY be experiencing a major shift in market structure, I am considering buying some options. But, I need to do some homework first.[/QUOTE] Define "major shift in market structure"... for me... Thx and you thought I wasn't payin attention..."

Rickster said: "Much of the market movements we see are due to structural factors, such as the interaction between the futures, stocks and options. For example, the market typically homes in on some value on the last few days before options expiration and then flat lines on the Friday of expiration. Over the last few years, option volume has multiplied greatly. As a result, options have become a dominant factor in the market. This is the main reason for the drop in volatility (low vix). Originally, the options sellers were large players using options to generate income. Over the last year or so, I have noticed an influx of public traders into the options selling game. These traders are to the market as rabbits and mice are to the ecosystem. Food. In recent months I noticed what seemed to be an increase in the number of options that were paying off. And this trend seems to be increasing. There were huge payoffs in the last month. I am thinking that the larger market predators see easy feeding in this area. This would be done by buying options from public (retail) options sellers and then shaking the market. If I am right, the easy money for the next year or more will be in buying options. The question is, which ones and when? I think it will be different (and in some ways the opposite) of the way it was in 2002/2003 when there was also easy money to be made in buying options. The other thing is that the low volatility over the last few years has created opportunities for trend following systems. That is, the market has been trending beautifully. I think we may be entering a long period (years) of turbulence. I am speculating on these subjects because I think it is important to consider possibilities and be prepared to adapt to changes."