Options Made Easy: Your Guide to Profitable Trading, Third Edition

Chapter 2. Into the Marketplace

How to Read Option Prices

The main components of an on-screen options price are as follows:

• The underlying instrument

• The expiration date of the option

• The option symbol

• The exercise (strike) price of the option

• The bid/ask of the option price

• The volume of the particular option on that day

• The open interest of the specific option

Example 2.1. Typical layout for a call option chain

Here is part of a call option chain for Apple Inc (AAPL). There are about one thousand individual options for Apple, spanning a number of strike prices and different expiration dates. Each option has a strike price and ...