What is triple witching?

Betsy said: "Triple witching sounds like something that happens on Halloween. Can anyone explain what triple witching means? Is there a such thing as quadruple witching? Thanks in advance for your help - I appreciate it:wave:"

prohobo said: "Options and Futures expire. Stock options expire on the third friday of each month (actually they expire or convert to stock on the saturday following the third friday). Futures expire either on a monthly or quarterly cycle. 4 times a year - all futures and options expire on the same week. I am not sure why they call it triple witching, unless they include index options - meaning stock, index options, and futures expiring at the same time. Side note: Cash based index options expire in the morning of friday based on settlement price, while stock options expire on the following saturday."

Darren said: "They say a picture is worth a thousands words. That means a video must be worth a million. Please check out this information on [URL="http://www.superiorinvestor.net/blog/2008/06/20/triple-witching-quadruple-witching/"]Triple and Quadruple Witching[/URL]. It includes a video from Fox Business where they do an outstanding job of explaining these concepts and how they affect options investors."

AlfredSokol said: "Triple witching day seems like a decent play to play the underlying stocks, if you can figure out a pattern."

prohobo said: "[QUOTE=AlfredSokol;70467]Triple witching day seems like a decent play to play the underlying stocks, if you can figure out a pattern.[/QUOTE] Not really. There is a strategy for expiration - that usually works pretty well. However, depends of OI vs. Volume. It's all about the pinnage! Don't get caught up into the triple witching hype. Someone came up with a fancy word - and now the talking heads act as if it is a big deal. It really isn't anything more than just another expiration day. Believe me on this one."

Darren said: "It's a cool name. Let's give them credit for that much."

prohobo said: "[QUOTE=Darren;70501]It's a cool name. Let's give them credit for that much.[/QUOTE] Yeah - it is a cool name. Some other cool names, Bullets, Married Puts, the BOX, ....."

drdan said: "Yeah I like the term Bullet Dodging also. But Caput comes to mind as a favorite. One of my favorite descriptions of it is from a popular investor terms site which states "it is not as easy to get into a position with caput options as with regular vanilla options." :whacky043: Oh and who doesn't like a straddle play?"

prohobo said: "[QUOTE=drdan;70564]Yeah I like the term Bullet Dodging also. But Caput comes to mind as a favorite. One of my favorite descriptions of it is from a popular investor terms site which states "it is not as easy to get into a position with caput options as with regular vanilla options." :whacky043: Oh and who doesn't like a straddle play?[/QUOTE] I love Spreads in PLA! :iloveyou:"