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Viewing ChartLists In Options View Format
The Options Summary Page provides you with options chain data for an underlying symbol. Options data is categorized based on expiration dates. Options contracts that are in-the-money have a light green background whereas those that are out-of-the-money (OTM) have no background color.
Accessing the Options Summary page
There are different ways to access the Options Summary page. The easiest way is from the Charts & Tools tab. Scroll down to the Summary Pages and select Options. Enter the stock symbol and click Go.
How To Use Options Data
Let's start with the List View, which segregates call and put data with call data listed first.
- Enter a symbol in the symbol box and hit enter or select Go.
- This shows the stock price, market cap, and volume of the symbol you typed in. Below this info is the options data.
- Select List View
- From the Expiration dropdown menu, select the expiration date to see the options data for the specific options expiration.
The options chain is displayed as a table where you have the contract, last trading date, the strike price, last traded price, the bid, ask, change in price, the %change in price, volume, and open interest. The data can be sorted by each of the columns.
How is this data useful? If you're interested in trading calls or puts, either via covered calls, cash-secured puts, or protective puts then the list view may be helpful since you're only focused on OTM puts and calls. Scroll down to the OTM options for your analysis.
Looking at Put and Call Data Side by Side
If you're considering trading options spreads, you may prefer the Straddle View, which displays call and put data side by side, arranged by strike prices.
- Select the Straddle View
- The data is similar to what was in the List View.
- Seeing the put and call data side by side can be helpful when you trade vertical spreads, calendar spreads, or straddles.
Even if you don't trade options, you can still view the options data on a stock you're considering adding to your portfolio. Open interest and volume give you an idea of which options have the most activity. You could also look at volume prior to an earnings announcement to get an idea of the sentiment surrounding the specific stock.
StockCharts members can add the options data to their CharLists and/or create alerts based on options price action.