T.J 5-31-13 Carried away?

It's Friday and end of the month. I was expecting a choppy and two way price discovery. The market acted as expected until  around 2pm. It start to fall hard. I had 6 sell puts orders, 17 contracts filled. 2 of orders had bad entries due to my adjustments earlier. They were reflections of my frustration of no fill in the last 2 days. I wasn't well prepared for this sudden drop although FT71 posted a possible low of 1629. I forgot my travel plan and over traded for the June WK2. I didn't keep a cool head with a good plan. I will have to manage the risk next week to exit the 2 low entry positions.

The ZW long position was closed to the tick of my target. I followed my rules and it worked out in my favor. Disciplines and rules don't guarantee every winner but keep your emotion and risk in check. The trade was a lucky one. It dropped to a tick before my stop and hit to the tick of my target.

T.J. 5-30-13

Another lam day for me. The market is still exploring up and down without a clear trend. I tried to get in couple of scalps for ES option but no fill.

I am still holding ZW long with 1 tick to stop me out and bounced. I am less fearful now but willing to accept uncertainties. My XB position is improving as well. I didn't set up an reversal for M6EM which stopped me out overnight with a small $100 loss. My rules of reversal are not clear and need to set up.

T.J. 5-29 None Event

Market slide over night and tested last Thursday & Friday's lower area in RH. ES didn't come down enough to give me any fills. It tested up and down for the last two days and in a flagging and wedge pattern. Let the market show its hand first. I will wait to see which way it breaks first.

T.J. 5-28-13

The day after Memorial Day, the market gaped up and got pushed back in the late session. It looks like a HS in hourly chart for ES. It could be a bull flagging on daily chart if it test and hold BBM.

I didn't get any good fill on either way today. I only had a scalp of 1600 P for 3 days. Also made a mistake in 1590 P for a wrong date of June 7 instead of May 31. I will need to scalp out of this position. Over all it's a none eventful day.

Fear

Do you focus on the fear of uncertainty rather than risk of uncertainty?
If you are fearful, then you start thinking fearfully and coming up with fearful solutions.

T.J. 5-24-13 A Inside Day

Today is the Friday before Memorial Day long weekend. It looks like no one wants to push the market too far out either way. We have explored both ups and downs of yesterday. My two scalps of this weeks' puts will expire worthless. I am out of next week's 1710 call with 95% profit in 3 days. There is no point to hold 0.5% more profit for another week. I am glad this is a profitable week for selling options. I am focusing on managing risks.

On the other hand, I took a stop with DB on ZC and missed an entry on his ZC long which was profitable. My LE long didn't close above BBM as I expected. The pattern changed from long to short. However, after I exited at BBM it continued to push up. It would be better to manage risk from stop side instead of target side. One more lesson learned.

5-23-13 Follow Through?

After yesterday's big drop, many people including me expected a follow through sell off, especially Japan had a near 8% and European markets were down over 2%. I managed to take off couple long and short positions to reduce my risk exposure. They are over all break even. I took a stop on 1590 EoM put and felt good about following my rules. It was entered in a rush to begin with.

The market didn't tank after testing o/n low and couldn't break it. It was closed at yesterday's lower part. Tomorrow may not be a big move day since a long weekend is coming. I will try to get in far out of money put if there is a big drop. Otherwise, it will be next Tuesday to see what the market want to do. All of my positions are relatively safe now but small.  

T.J. 5-22-13 Uncle Ben

As expected, Mr Bernanke's speech moved the market up and down almost 40 point in ES. An early push to a new high of 1686 before he started talking and drop to the low of  1647. It showed the Fed's power.
The market is afraid of the end of QE3. A lot of people complain about QE3 but enjoy the benefits of it.

I sold a call of 1710 near top and couple more of 1610-05 2 day scalping. My yesterday's 1615 may be in trouble. I will manage the risk tomorrow.

T.J. 5-21-13 Waiting for Ben

Another up day but sellers keep hitting new highs. I guess the market is waiting for Ben's speech and Fed minute tomorrow.

I have been mostly patience today. No major positions filled. Legged in for a ES put scalping.

T.J. 5-20-13 Trend Setting on Monday

Another Monday, another push up to a new high. A similar patent of push down at open and squeeze up. I am prepared to enter options on both end of edge. Keep in mind that risk management is my top priority. I will wait for the price come to support or resistance area. Equity prices are pulling back at noon time today. It could be a reversal day.

The grain market was under pressure this AM. DB issued two short orders for soybean and meal. The soybean short was not his regular setup, instead he took it at overnight low. I debated myself weather I should follow this c-trend order. I entered it at pull back to o/n low thinking to follow a system regardless my feelings. However, the previous days' patent has been the same pushing down to o/n and squeeze up to new high. It looks like we will be stopped out if the planting progress report come out to be bullish. Looks like ZC and ZW are pushing up too after testing lows initially.

Well, ZS did push to new high before closing and I got a quick stop out. Apparently Brazilian port delays shipment again and US cash market was tight. Frustrating but that is trading. That squeeze patent in BB4 and BB1hr worked again.

What should be my rule when two system give conflicting signals? Stick to my top down approach and stay with a trend.

No put or call were filled today. ES touched a new high on R1 and upper trend line then pull back to last Friday's upper range. Will wait to see what it gives tomorrow.

T.J. Friday's Rally

The market tried to go lower this AM but it could not even close the gap from yesterday. It appears that may set a new high on this Friday. At this point around 2:30pm, I am still not able to get out my two expiring positions yet. It's getting the maximum pain as the market often teach these undisciplined traders. 

My predication turned out to be true. Market started pushing up after 2pm. I didn't have a emergency plan although I thought about it this morning. I didn't come up with a concrete setup. This has to be included in my trade entry. It turned out to be a big lost today after the market pushed to a new high late afternoon.

T.J 5-16-13 Bad news is good news

The weekly jobless claim number came out 28k higher than expected and housing start number was also below expectation. The market didn't react much negatively. It's still consolidating at upper part of profile at 2pm. It may blast out higher since overnight high was taken out and most of the dips were bought by buyers. So far ES has had only 9 point range. Some people interpret the bad news as a positive sign as the Fed may not end QE3 soon. There are just too much free money flowing around from BOJ, ECB and FED. Apparently, core CPI was only up 0.1%.

P.M update: price started to fall in the last hour. It went into yesterday's lower profile. It's auction in that low volume area. It could go either way tomorrow. I was able to get risk off of my 1660 calls and got in another put for a 1 day scalping. But there are two more call at lower points. I will be forced to take a loss as they are expiring tomorrow. I didn't follow my rules and overcome my fear to set hard stops for them. A heavy price to pay.

T.J 5-15-13 Deep in the water

It's another up day. I am deeper in the water. This is the time that proven in the market you can only expect unexpected. People without rules and discipline are hurt.

I entered one put to hedge my calls but they are not in the equal amount. There were two more puts didn't get filled. My call of SPY is up 300%. It may cover a small part of loss since I have only one contract left.

I will have to manage these positions tomorrow by selling more puts to hedge the calls. The ES could test BB upper band of 1667 if housing start and jobless claims are better than expected.

5-14-13 T.J Super Tuesday

The market seems none stoppable now a days. ES shoot up 15 point this morning without a 5 point pull back. I am still not managing my risk well. Both 1630 and 1645 positions are under water now. I thought 1645 was safe. Need to place stop loss order with every entry from now on. There is no way to make this business work without strong will power and discipline.

T.J 5-13-13 Monday Again

Index futures opened gap down 4 points on Sunday night. ES along with other indies pushed high this morning indicating a strong interest of buyers. ES reached 1633.5 of an all time high again. Every push low to VPOCS got bought. The trend appears strong. I bought a call spread to hedge my futures options of short but not equal $ amount. Let's see if there will be a follow through day to take the market higher. Now it closed at higher part of day, looking like a P profile and a bull flag for hourly chart. May have to take a loss for my 1630 options.

My SSYS stock holding was stopped out on earning report this AM. It was a profitable trade.

Wisdom From 2400 Years Ago

If you are a trader, you will relate

When an archer is shooting for nothing . . . he has all his skill.

If he shoots for a brass buckle . . . he is already nervous.

If he shoots for a prize of gold . . . he goes blind;

or sees two targets . . . he is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed.  But the prize . . . divides him.  He cares.

He thinks more of winning than of shooting . . . 

and the need to win drains him of power.

            – Chuang Tzu, 400 B.C..

From peterlbrandt.com

T.J 5-10-13 A Can of Worms

Things could go from bad to worse when you make a mistake and don't correct it quickly in trading. It's like opening a can of worm, things just getting messier.

ES started exploring both extremes, like yesterday afternoon. It may have to do with Ben's speech. I was able to get out another car as a stop loss. There are two more left for a new low test. I will have to take a bigger loss if my expectation is wrong. So far both sides are defending their lines and ES is in a range bound with a slight down side bias. Anything can happen in trading. Just follow the rules and don't be wishing washing.

I am finally all out of this week's calls with $470 losses. It could have been much worse with -1400 at one point. A big lesson learned on discipline of obeying rules.

T.J 5-9-13 None Stop

The same pattern happened again for ES this AM. A pull back at open and drove up to a new high. BB hourly appeared squeezed every morning this week.  Except it had a little deeper pull back (about 5ps). I was able to get one position of 1630 out a little better than break even. ES then bounced from O/N low and reached a new high by 2 pm now. The target of 1633-35 has not hit yet. It looks like that I will have to pay a big price for not honoring my stops. No system would work without strict discipline to follow rules.

ES dropped about 13 point right around 2:30 and bounced right back to value area. The reversal started only 2 ticks from 1633. I guess the big guys front run it. There were over $50 million worth of SPX puts purchased. I was able to get 1 of my 1620 call out. I lowered my price again for the other cars and didn't get filled. Of course I was greedy again. It's all hanging on tomorrow's market now. ES parked at mid point over night and it could go either way tomorrow. I feel that I was a prayer and gambler in the last couple of days.

T.J 5-8-13 Keep Going

The markets have been up for 5 days now. They are defying the common beliefs of "can't go much higher". There are apparently a lots of short interests and shorts are trapped. I am one of them too. I was ready to exit my this week's 1620 position to take a loss. ES didn't even give a 3 point pull back at the open. It's now challenging 1628-1630 area at lunch time. I don't know what the day would end but it's at a critical level. Daily Fib 23% target was hit yesterday and no pull back. Fib 50 extension is around 1633.

ES closed at 1629 of all time high. I added 1 more at 1645. It's a very strong up day and seems a none stop train. I have a only two days left to get out my shorts for this week.

T.J 5-7-13 Using Stop in Options

ES options have large swings despite relatively stable IV, for example, a 100% price movement could have less than 10% IV. Not pre-entering stop loss orders may be able to avoid some unexpected swings but it require a mental stop and the kind of discipline to take a stop. I haven't quite mastered this skill yet. Until I do it's unlikely I can make consistent profit in selling futures options. I enter stop loss orders with all of my futures trades. Why can't I make myself to take stops? I already had a plan to take the stop for my ES 1620 this morning by entering another order at higher strike after taking this stop. When the market moved up passing my mental stop I was like a deer in headlights again. I fail to execute my plan. Now I am 250% under water in this position. It will take 5-6 winners to recover from it. Next time, take a stop and be glad about it.

I have to master and win this mental challenge! Failure is not an option!

T.J 5-6-13 Waiting?

It's a boring Monday. ES only moved 6 points and slightly up. Tried to sell couple ES call positions but no fill.

On the other hand, grains gaped down on Sunday night. My ZW long was stopped out with only $270 gain. It was a 4 days' agony. I really messed up this one by moving targets without discipline, greed and fear exchanging places.

T.J. 5-3-2013 NFP Pop

The US NFP report came out this morning much better than expected. Futures gaped up and reached over 20 points on ES. Two of my pending orders of 1620/1630 for the next two weeks got filled and run over. I can't believe I didn't adjust them last night while I was setting grains options. It must be a procedure to review any pending orders the night before.

EW is still irritating me or I am just not firm on my target. I kept adjusting it up and down with fear and greed. The price moved up overnight and fall hard at the open. I am sitting on only half of the gain now. 

E Mini S&P Option Specs

E-mini S&P 500 Weekly Options Specs
Opening Date	Weeks 1 & 2: 8/24/09 Week 4: 7/06/10
Ticker Symbol View product and vendor codes	EW1 Week 1 EW2 Week 2 EW4 Week 4 ESF Special Fixing Price
Contract Size	Delivers into one quarterly E-mini S&P 500 futures contract
Strike Price Intervals	All strike prices within 50 strike price intervals above and below the underlying futures contract settlement price on the previous Trading Day. The strike prices intervals shall be integers divisible by 5 without remainder, e.g. 1200, 1205, 1210, etc.
Tick Size (minimum fluctuation)	OUTRIGHT	0.25=$12.50 for premium >5.00
	REDUCED TICK	0.05= $2.50 for premium ≤ 5.00
	CAB	0.05=$2.50
Trading Hours All time listed are Central Time	CME Globex	MON – FRI: 5:00 p.m. previous day – 4:15 p.m.; trading halt from 3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Contract Months	Four weekly contracts will be listed at any given time
Last Trade Date/Time View Calendar	Week 1	3:00 p.m.   1st Friday of contract month
	Week 2	3:00 p.m.   2nd Friday of contract month
	Week 4	3:00 p.m.   4th Friday of contract month
Exercise Procedure	European Style. Exercisable only on expiration day. On expiration day, all in-the-money options as of 3:00 p.m. CT will be automatically exercised. Contrarian instructions are not allowed. Exercisable only on expiration day.
Expiration Date	Week 1	1st Friday of contract month
	Week 2	2nd Friday of contract month
	Week 4	4th Friday of contract month
Settlement at Expiration	Option exercise results in a position in the underlying cash-settled Futures contract. Options which are in-the-money on the last day of trading are automatically exercised. A 3:00 p.m. CT price fixing (symbol ESF) based on the weighted average traded price of E-mini S&P 500 futures in the last 30 seconds of trading on expiration day (2:59:30 pm–3:00:00 pm Chicago time) will be used to determine which options are in-the-money.
Daily Price Limits	Option trading is not permitted during trading halts due to price limit events. View price limits details.
Position Limits	See: CME Rulebook Chapter 5 - POSITION LIMIT, POSITION ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTABLE LEVEL TABLE
Exchange Rule	These contracts are listed by, and subject to, the rules and regulations of CME.
Rulebook Chapter	358A
Block Trade Eligibility	No. View more on block-trade eligible contracts.
Block Trade Minimums	N/A

E-mini S&P 500 End-of-Month Options
Opening Date	5/21/2006
Ticker Symbol	EW = ticker /clearing code ESF= Special fixing price View product and vendor codes
Contract Size	One E-mini S&P 500 futures contract
Strike Price Interval	25-point intervals within ± 50% previous day’s settlement price of the underlying futures 10-point intervals within ± 20% previous day’s settlement price of the underlying futures Once the contract becomes the second nearest contract, 5-point intervals within ± 10% previous day’s settlement price of the underlying futures will be available
Tick Size (minimum fluctuation)
	OUTRIGHT	0.25=$12.50 for premium >5.00
	REDUCED TICK	0.05=$2.50 for premium < or =5.00
	CAB	0.05=$2.50
Trading Hours (All times listed are Central Time)	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	MON – FRI: 5:00 p.m. previous day – 4:15 p.m.; trading halt from 3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Contract Months	Six consecutive calendar months
Strike Listing	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	All strikes interval
Last Trade Date/Time View Calendar	CME Globex	3:00 PM CT Last Business day of month
Exercise Procedure	European Style. Exercisable only on expiration day. On expiration day, all in-the-money options as of 3:00 p.m. CT  will be automatically exercised. Contrarian instructions are not allowed.  Exercisable only on expiration day.
Expiration Date	Last business day of the contract month
Settlement at Expiration	Option exercise results in a position in the underlying cash-settled Futures contract. Options which are in-the-money on the last day of trading are automatically exercised. A 3:00 p.m. CT price fixing based on the weighted average traded price of E-mini S&P 500 futures in the last 30 seconds of trading on expiration day (2:59:30 p.m. – 3:00:00 p.m. CT) will be used to determine which options are in-the-money.
Daily Price Limits	Option trading is not permitted during trading halts due to price limit events. View price limits details.
Position Limits	See: CME Rulebook Chapter 5 - POSITION LIMIT, POSITION ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTABLE LEVEL TABLE
Block Trade Eligibility	No. View more on block-trade eligible contracts.
Block Minimum	N/A
Fee Waivers/ Discounts	Reduced fees for spread-trade E-mini options
Rulebook Chapter	358 A
Exchange Rule	These contracts are listed with, and subject to, the rules and regulations of CME.

E-mini S&P 500 Options (Monthly&Quatarly)
Opening Date	9/9/1997
Ticker Symbol	ES ES= Clearing View product and vendor codes
Contract Size	One E-mini S&P 500 futures contract
Strike Price Interval	25-point intervals within ± 50% previous day’s settlement price of the underlying futures 10-point intervals within ± 20% previous day’s settlement price of the underlying futures Once the contract becomes the second nearest contract, 5-point intervals within ± 10% previous day’s settlement price of the underlying futures will be available
Tick Size (minimum fluctuation)	OUTRIGHT	0.25=$12.50 for premium >5.00
	REDUCED TICK	0.05=$2.50 for premium < or =5.00
	CAB	0.05=$2.50
Trading Hours All time listed are Central Time	CME Globex	MON – FRI: 5:00 p.m. previous day – 4:15 p.m.; trading halt from 3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Contract Months	Four months in the March Quarterly Cycle (Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec) Three Serial Months (i.e., Jan, Feb, Apr)
Last Trade Date/Time View Calendar	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	QUARTERLY:  8:30 a.m. / 3rd Friday of the contract month SERIAL: 4:15 p.m. / 3rd Friday of the contract month
Strike Listing	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	All strike intervals
Exercise Procedure	American Style.
Expiration Date Procedure	An option can be exercised until 7:00 p.m. on any business day the option is traded. QUARTERLY OPTIONS - Unexercised in-the-money options will be automatically exercised at 7:00 p.m. on the day of determination of the Final Settlement Price. SERIAL OPTIONS - Unexercised in-the-money options will be automatically exercised at 7:00 p.m. on Serial Option expiration day.
Settlement at Expiration	Option exercise results in a position in the underlying cash-settled Futures contract. Options which are in-the-money on the last day of trading are automatically exercised. In-the-money QUARTERLY OPTIONS, in the absence of contrary instructions delivered to the Clearing House by 7:00 p.m. on the day of the expiration, are exercised automatically into expiring cash-settled futures, which settle to the SOQ calculated the morning of the 3rd Friday of the contract month. In-the-money SERIAL OPTIONS, in the absence of contrary instructions delivered to the Clearing House by 7:00 p.m. on the day of the expiration, shall be exercised automatically on serial option expiration day.
Daily Price Limits	Option trading is not permitted during trading halts due to price limit events. View price limits details.
Position Limits	See: CME Rulebook Chapter 5 - POSITION LIMIT, POSITION ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTABLE LEVEL TABLE
Block Trade Eligibility	No. View more on block-trade eligible contracts.
Block Minimum	N/A
Rulebook Chapter	358 A
Exchange Rule	These contracts are listed with, and subject to, the rules and regulations of CME.

x

T.J. 5-2-13 Not Sweet Sugar

Sugar's movements are so unpredictable and not very technical. I remember I quite trading it more than a year ago. I picked up to trade with DB and then trading it myself based on technical. Most of the trades have been losers. Yesterday's gap fill turned into a big push through and stopped me out overnight. I entered a short on pull back and now it appears going all way back up again. I will stop trading sugar after this trade regardless win or lose.

I am still in that ZW trade and getting irritated. It was a inside day even with a positive export report and poor conditions of wheat tour. My target is set and just wait for it to hit it or stop out.

Grain Option Specs -

Wheat Options
Contract Size	One Wheat futures contract (of a specified month) of 5,000 bushels
Tick Size (minimum fluctuation)	1/8 of one cent per bushel ($6.25 per contract)
Strike Price Intervals	Trading shall be conducted for put and call options with striking prices in integral multiples of five (5) cents and ten (10) cents per bushel. More details on strike price intervals are outlined in Rule 14A01.E.
Contract Months/Symbols	March (H), May (K), July (N), September (U) & December (Z); a monthly (serial) option contract is listed when the front month is not a standard option contract. The monthly option contract exercises into the nearby futures contact. For example, an August option exercise into a September futures position.
Daily Price Limit	$0.60 per bushel expandable to $0.90 and then to $1.35 when the market closes at limit bid or limit offer. There shall be no price limits on the last trading day.
Last Trade Date	The last day of trading in any standard or serial option for expiry in a given month shall be the last Friday which precedes by at least two business days the last business day of the calendar month preceding such option’s named expiry month. If such Friday is not a business day, then the last day of trading in such option shall be the business day prior to such Friday.
Exercise	The buyer of a futures option may exercise the option on any business day prior to expiration by giving notice to the Clearing House by 6:00 p.m. Chicago time. Option exercise results in an underlying futures market position. Options in-the-money on the last day of trading are automatically exercised.
Expiration	Unexercised Wheat futures options shall expire at 7:00 p.m. on the last day of trading.
Trading Hours	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	Sunday – Friday, 7:00 p.m. – 7:45 a.m. CT and Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. CT
	Open Outcry (Trading Floor)	Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. CT
Product Ticker Symbols	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	OZW W=Clearing
	Open Outcry (Trading Floor)	WY for calls/WZ for puts
Exchange Rule	These contracts are listed with, and subject to, the rules and regulations of CBOT.

Product Calendar for Wheat Options
Contract	Product Code	First Trade Last Trade	Settlement
JUN 2013	WM13	02/25/2013 05/24/2013	05/24/2013
JUL 2013	WN13	04/23/2012 06/21/2013	06/21/2013
AUG 2013	WQ13	04/29/2013 07/26/2013	07/26/2013
SEP 2013	WU13	06/25/2012 08/23/2013	08/23/2013
DEC 2013	WZ13	08/27/2012 11/22/2013	11/22/2013
MAR 2014	WH14	11/26/2012 02/21/2014	02/21/2014
MAY 2014	WK14	02/25/2013 04/25/2014	04/25/2014
JUL 2014	WN14	04/29/2013 06/20/2014	06/20/2014

Corn Options
Contract Size	One Corn futures contract (of a specified month) of 5,000 bushels
Tick Size (minimum fluctuation)	1/8 of one cent per bushel ($6.25 per contract)
Strike Price Intervals	Trading shall be conducted for put and call options with striking prices in integral multiples of five (5) cents and ten (10) cents per bushel. More details on strike price intervals are outlined in Rule 10A01.E.
Contract Months/Symbols	March (H), May (K), July (N), September (U) & December (Z); a monthly (serial) option contract is listed when the front month is not a standard option contract. The monthly option contract exercises into the nearby futures contract. For example, an August option exercise into a September futures position.
Daily Price Limit	$0.40 per bushel expandable to $0.60 when the market closes at limit bid or limit offer. There shall be no price limits on the last trading day.
Last Trade Date	The last day of trading in any standard or serial option for expiry in a given month shall be the last Friday which precedes by at least two business days the last business day of the calendar month preceding such option’s named expiry month. If such Friday is not a business day, then the last day of trading in such option shall be the business day prior to such Friday.
Exercise	The buyer of a futures option may exercise the option on any business day prior to expiration by giving notice to the Clearing House by 6:00 p.m. Chicago time. Option exercise results in an underlying futures market position. Options in-the-money on the last day of trading are automatically exercised.
Expiration	Unexercised Corn futures options shall expire at 7:00 p.m. on the last day of trading.
Trading Hours	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	Sunday – Friday, 7:00 p.m. – 7:45 a.m. CT and Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. CT
	Open Outcry (Trading Floor)	Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. CT
Product Ticker Symbols	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	OZC C=Clearing
	Open Outcry (Trading Floor)	C
Exchange Rule	These contracts are listed with, and subject to, the rules and regulations of CBOT.

Product Calendar for Corn Options
Contract	Product Code	First Trade Last Trade	Settlement
JUN 2013	CM13	02/25/2013 05/24/2013	05/24/2013
JUL 2013	CN13	11/29/2010 06/21/2013	06/21/2013
AUG 2013	CQ13	04/29/2013 07/26/2013	07/26/2013
SEP 2013	CU13	03/26/2012 08/23/2013	08/23/2013
DEC 2013	CZ13	11/29/2010 11/22/2013	11/22/2013
MAR 2014	CH14	07/30/2012 02/21/2014	02/21/2014
MAY 2014	CK14	09/24/2012 04/25/2014	04/25/2014
JUL 2014	CN14	11/28/2011 06/20/2014	06/20/2014

Soybean Options
Contract Size	One Soybean futures contract (of a specified month) of 5,000 bushels
Tick Size (minimum fluctuation)	1/8 of one cent per bushel ($6.25 per contract)
Strike Price Intervals	Trading shall be conducted for put and call options with striking prices in integral multiples of ten (10) cents and twenty (20) cents per bushel. More details on strike price intervals are outlined in Rule 11A01.E.
Contract Months/Symbols	January (F), March (H), May (K), July (N), August (Q), September (U) & November (X); a monthly (serial) option contract is listed when the front month is not a standard option contract. The monthly option contract exercises into the nearby futures contract. For example, an October option exercises into a November futures position.
Daily Price Limit	$0.70 per bushel expandable to $1.05 and then to $1.60 when the market closes at limit bid or limit offer. There shall be no price limits on the last trading day.
Last Trade Date	For Standard and Serial Option Contracts: The last Friday which precedes by at least two business days the last business day of the month preceding the option month.
Exercise	The buyer of a futures option may exercise the option on any business day prior to expiration by giving notice to the Clearing House by 6:00 p.m. Chicago time. Option exercise results in an underlying futures market position. Options in-the-money on the last day of trading are automatically exercised.
Expiration	Unexercised Soybean futures options shall expire at 7:00 p.m. on the last day of trading.
Trading Hours	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	Sunday – Friday, 7:00 p.m. – 7:45 a.m. CT and Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. CT
	Open Outcry (Trading Floor)	Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. CT
Product Ticker Symbols	CME Globex (Electronic Platform)	OZS S=Clearing
	Open Outcry (Trading Floor)	CZ for calls/PZ for puts
Exchange Rule	These contracts are listed with, and subject to, the rules and regulations of CBOT.

Product Calendar for Soybean Options
Contract	Product Code	First Trade Last Trade	Settlement
JUN 2013	SM13	02/25/2013 05/24/2013	05/24/2013
JUL 2013	SN13	03/24/2011 06/21/2013	06/21/2013
AUG 2013	SQ13	04/23/2012 07/26/2013	07/26/2013
SEP 2013	SU13	06/25/2012 08/23/2013	08/23/2013
NOV 2013	SX13	03/24/2011 10/25/2013	10/25/2013
JAN 2014	SF14	08/27/2012 12/27/2013	12/27/2013
MAR 2014	SH14	10/29/2012 02/21/2014	02/21/2014
MAY 2014	SK14	12/24/2012 04/25/2014	04/25/2014
JUL 2014	SN14	02/25/2013 06/20/2014	06/20/2014
AUG 2014	SQ14	04/29/2013 07/25/2014	07/25/2014
NOV 2014	SX14	03/25/2013 10/24/2014	10/24/2014