How to Read an Option Chain
An option chain is the table of a stock's options for one expiration: one row per strike, calls on the left, puts on the right, with each option's bid, ask, volume and implied volatility.
What is an option chain?
An option chain (also called an option montage) is the table of the options listed on one stock for one expiration date. Each row is a strike price: the call for that strike is on the left, the put on the right, and the strike sits in the middle. A stock can have hundreds or even thousands of option contracts across its strikes and expirations, so the chain lines them up one expiration at a time, calls and puts side by side.
On Market Chameleon each row shows every option's bid and ask, the implied volatility at each, today's volume and a theoretical value, plus a column you can switch between delta, open interest and the other Greeks.
How to read an option chain
- Pick an expiration. The Select Expiration list shows each expiration's at-the-money implied volatility, its change on the day and its total volume. An E, D or C next to a date means an earnings report, a dividend or another company event falls before that expiration (an asterisk means the date is not confirmed yet); hover over it for the dates.
- Find the stock price among the strikes. Calls with strikes below the stock price, and puts with strikes above it, are in the money. The others are out of the money.
- Read across the row. The bid is what buyers are offering and the ask is what sellers want, so buying happens near the ask and selling near the bid. Volume is the number of contracts traded today.
- Click for more. A volume number opens that option's trades, a strike opens its implied volatility graphs and trades, and a bid or ask opens the options profit calculator for that option.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Bid / Ask | The best price buyers are bidding and sellers are asking. Prices are per share; one standard contract covers 100 shares. |
| Bid IV / Ask IV | The implied volatility worked out from the bid price and from the ask price. |
| Theo | A theoretical price for the option, from a best-fit volatility curve unless another model is chosen under Theoretical Value. |
| Volume | Contracts traded today. Click it for the option's time and sales. |
| Delta (outside columns) | A drop-down on each side switches it to Open Int, Gamma, Vega, Theta, Rho, IV Chg (the day's change in implied volatility), Mkt Chg (the change in the option's bid-ask midpoint since the previous close) or IV Lean/Spread. |
| IV Pct | How today's implied volatility ranks against past options with the same days to expiration and the same distance from the stock price. 70% means 70% of those past readings were lower. |
| Win Rate / Avg Ret | Shown when you click Backtest above the calls or puts: how buying that option has done in a historical backtest. |
| Strike | The price at which the option lets you buy (call) or sell (put) the stock. Click it for IV graphs, trades, IV rank and history at that strike. |
What you can find out
How do you read an options chain?
Choose an expiration, find the strike closest to the stock price, then read across: the call is on the left, the put on the right. The bid and ask give the price, volume shows today's activity, and implied volatility shows how expensive each option is. Open the SPY option chain
What do bid IV and ask IV mean on an option chain?
Implied volatility is the volatility built into an option's price: how much movement the market is paying for. Bid IV is calculated from the bid price and ask IV from the ask price, so ask IV is the higher of the two, and a wide gap between them means a wide bid-ask spread. Comparing IV across strikes shows the volatility skew. Read about implied volatility
Where do I see delta, open interest and the other Greeks?
In the outside column on each side of the chain. It starts as Delta; its drop-down switches it to Open Int, Gamma, Vega, Theta or Rho, or to the day's change in implied volatility or price. What delta tells you
How do I see the trades in one option?
Click its volume number. Time and sales lists each trade's time, price, condition, implied volatility and exchange, with the day's totals: volume, number of trades, notional value, open interest, high and low price, and IV range. Clicking a strike adds IV graphs and the single-leg and multi-leg trades at that strike. Read about option time and sales
Where can I see a historical option chain?
Use Historical Chain above the table to pick a past date and see the chain as it was at that day's close. The download button next to it saves the expiration you are viewing as a CSV file. Both are for Premium Options and Premium members. Historical data for one option contract
Where to find it
On any stock or ETF page, choose Options › Option Chain in the stock's menu, or go straight to /Overview/symbol/OptionChain, for example /Overview/SPY/OptionChain. If a symbol has no Option Chain choice, it most likely has no options listed.
Visitors who are not logged in see the first expiration only; a free account opens the other expirations and the Backtest columns. The historical chain, the download and the choice of Theo model are for Premium Options and Premium members.
FAQ
- Is an option montage the same as an option chain?
- Yes. Option montage is another name for the same table: the calls and puts on one stock for one expiration, organized by strike.
- Why doesn't a stock have an option chain?
- If a symbol has no Option Chain choice in its menu, it most likely has no options listed on an exchange.
- Can I download an option chain to Excel?
- Premium Options and Premium members can download the expiration they are viewing, today or on a past date, as a CSV file that opens in Excel. The download button is above the chain.
- What do E, D and C next to an expiration mean?
- An earnings report (E), a dividend (D) or another company event (C) falls before that expiration. An asterisk means the date is not confirmed yet. Hover over the letters for the dates.
- What does the Theo column show?
- A theoretical price for each option. By default it comes from a best-fit volatility curve; Premium Options and Premium members can switch to 20-day or 1-year historical volatility, a custom volatility, the median backtest IV or a 4-year price distribution.
Related
Bid Ask Spread Open Interest Implied and historical volatility Time and sales for one option contractTerms on this page
Bid-ask spread Implied volatility Open interest Delta Strike priceMarket Chameleon provides data, not investment advice.