Options Tab Features

Enter the symbol underlying the options you want to potentially trade and click Go or press Enter.

The Title Bar is available in several tools, and includes some basic price data as well as the Tool Link Icon. For more on these features see Title Bar.

Click the Strategy Selector to choose a strategy, whether a straight Call or Put or multi-leg.

This will adjust the Trade Ticket to display the correct order entry fields, and it will change the Option Chains to display contracts or contract pairings applicable to the strategy.

For a more technical look at each type of option strategy, see Option Strategies Overview.

Displays the full symbol and the Bid and Ask quotes, as well as the Midpoint price, for the selected contract. (Midpoint is not provided when using the Combo strategy.)

• For multi-leg strategies, this area shows the symbol and quotes for both legs, as well as the Net Price (or "Natural") calculation.
• For Buy to Open/Close actions the ask is highlighted, while the bid is highlighted for Sell to Open/Close actions.
• The net quote of these two legs is provided with the natural (or net price) highlighted.
• For information on options with non-standard expiration dates, click here.
• For information on Adjusted Options, such as those that have gone through a merger, split, etc., click here.

The trade ticket area (available both in the Trade tool and Symbol Hub) is where you set up and place option orders. See more on Placing Option Orders.

Calculate Shares: Calculates the maximum number of contracts you can trade based on the dollar amount you specify.

TIP: You can hide the Trade Ticket by clicking the double arrow tab in the upper right corner. Click again to re-display it.

Trading settings, such as enabling or disabling order verification, default quantities, and commission estimates can be found by right-clicking in the Trade Ticket area and selecting Trade Ticket Settings or under Settings in the main menu. For more information, see Trading Settings.

If applicable to the selected strategy, shows an estimation of the cost or proceeds depending on the number of contracts and limit or market price.

The estimation does not include commissions or fees unless you specify them in the Trade Settings window. Hover your mouse pointer over the Estimated Cost to open a pop-up with a link to Edit Fee Calculation.

These filters determine which contracts or pairings are available for you to choose from when setting up an option trade. Choose the number of contracts or pairings to display, whether to view calls or puts, strike range, and more.

For details on each filter, which vary depending on the strategy you have selected, see the Option Chain Filters topic.

Single-leg Calls or Puts

The option chain displays Calls and Puts grouped by Expiration.

• Click the arrow at the beginning of the expiration row to expand the strikes for that specific expiration.
• Click the arrow at the beginning of each row to display the contract specifications and Level 2 quote data.

Multi-leg Strategies

The option chain display shows pairings appropriate for the selected multi-leg strategy. Click the arrow at the beginning of each row to display the legs in each pairing.

See more on Option Chains