Today, equity options (except LEAPS) expire on a hybrid cycle which involves a total of four option series: the two nearest-term calendar months and the next two months from the traditional cycle to which that class of options has been assigned. For example, on January 1, a stock in the January cycle will be trading options expiring in these months: January, February, April, and July. After the January expiration, the months outstanding will be February, March, April and July.
See Also:
Cycle: The expiration dates applicable to various classes of options. There are three cycles: January/April/July/October, February/May/August/November, and March/June/September/ December. Today, equity options expire on a hybrid cycle which involves a total of four option series: the two nearest-term calendar months and the next two months from the traditional cycle to which that class of options has been assigned. For example, on January 1, a stock in the January cycle will be trading options expiring in these months: January, February, April, and July. After the January expiration, the months outstanding will be February, March, April and July.
Expiration: The date and time after which an option may no longer be exercised.