Exchange-traded options on futures
Track trades in an exact listed option contract. Distinguish the quoted option value, trading P&L and exercise events that affect its underlying future.
How it works
The selected contract defines Call/Put, strike, expiry, exercise style and settlement type. Record whole-contract trades at their execution premium. Before expiry, valuation uses the option's own market price; volatility and Greeks require additional underlying and discount data. These are listed positions, not custom OTC options referencing a future.
Key contract terms
- Exact option and underlying future
- Call/Put, strike and expiry
- Exercise and settlement styles
- Buy/sell and whole-contract quantity
- Execution premium, currency and quote scale
Payoff: the contractual result
Open market value is signed contracts × normalized option price × monetary multiplier. Unrealized P&L subtracts the average execution premium using the same units; selling reverses exposure. At expiry, Call intrinsic value is max(future settlement − strike, 0), and Put intrinsic value reverses that difference. Contract terms determine the lifecycle treatment.
A simple example
Buy two options at normalized premium 2 with a USD 100 multiplier. At market premium 3, their value is USD 600 and unrealized P&L is 2 × (3 − 2) × 100 = USD 200. Do not subtract the USD 400 purchase premium again.
Illustrative amounts exclude fees and currency conversion. A payoff is distinct from the instrument's value before maturity.
Lifecycle
- First trade
- Exercise window
- Exercise, assignment or expiry decision
- Remaining quantity at expiry
According to the option's settlement terms
Physical exercise / assignment
The event consumes option contracts and generates an underlying futures trade. That futures position follows its own lifecycle.
American cash exercise / assignment
The event realizes the result of the exercised quantity without generating a futures trade. Further partial events remain possible.
Physical option: expiry without exercise
After expiry, this decision consumes all or part of the remaining option contracts without creating a future. Earlier events retain their results.
- Record option trades; opposite trades may reduce or close the position. Exercise and assignment quantities are whole contracts.
- During the permitted window, a buyer can exercise and a seller can record an assignment, partially or fully. Several events can consume the remaining quantity; American and European windows differ.
- Physical exercise generates a trade in the underlying future, which follows its own lifecycle. American cash exercise realizes its result without creating a future.
- After expiry, physical options may record expiry without exercise for all or part of the remainder. Cash-settled remainders use the exact expiry reference for final valuation; a calendar date alone does not supply the missing decision or price.
- Corrections and cancellations retain history and recalculate quantities and results, including linked futures movements when applicable.
Using this instrument in OTCValue
Supported specifications use premium-paid options on configured futures. European and American exercise windows differ; manual cash exercise is supported for American options. Expiry without exercise concerns physical options. Exact final observations are required. Quoted P&L can remain available without Greeks. Recording an event does not send an exchange order or settle cash.