BATS Options, a U.S. equity options market operated by BATS Global Markets (BATS), will list Mini Options on five high-priced and actively traded securities on March 18 with no charge for members to trade.
Investors will be able to trade options on Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) at a fraction of the cost of regular-sized contracts as Mini Options carry a unit of trading one-tenth the size of regular-sized options contracts, or 10 shares. This provides investors who own less than 100 shares with the same protection and risk management tools available to those owning 100 shares or more.
“We’re pleased to give investors affordable access to these five high-priced and highly liquid stocks through Mini Options,” said Jeromee Johnson, vice president and head of BATS Options. “While the trading unit size of the Mini Options contract is less than a standard option contract on these stocks, the post-trade and regulatory costs are consistent with a standard option contract. For this reason we are offering free trading in the Mini Options to minimize costs for investors and fuel adoption of these new and innovative products.”
- Key features of the new Mini Options: Trading symbols for Mini Options will end with either a 7 or an 8. For example, AAPL7 and SPY7 will differentiate them from regular-sized options contracts while AAPL8 and SPY8 will identify corporate actions on the underlying stock.
- Mini Options will maintain the same expiration dates and strike prices as the Standard, Weekly andQuarterly Options Series.
- Strike prices for Mini Options will be set at the same level as regular options to maintain the relationship between the underlying security and an option strike price.
- Mini Options have the same terms and contract characteristics as regular-sized equity and ETFoptions, excluding exercise style.
