Foreign Currency Options - PHLX

Foreign Currency Options - Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX)

In conjunction with the release of version 7.7, eSignal now supports Foreign Currency Options (FCO) from the Philadelphia Stock Exchanges (PHLX).

There is a $5/mo charge to add these PHLX Foreign Currency Options to your account (same rate for both pro and non-pro subscribers). You'll also need a level of service that allows for Options, although you don't neccesarily need to subscribe to Options Price Reporting Authority (OPRA) to receive the FCO data. If you are currently eligible to add OPRA to your service or already subscribe to OPRA, you can add FCO to your service via Account Maintenance. If not, you'll need to contact Sales or Customer Service to upgrade your account.

You'll also need to be using eSignal version 7.7 or higher. Visit the eSignal Download site for your free upgrade.

Symbol Information

These FCOs are based on six major currencies. The short form for these individual options have the same syntax as equity / index options (YYY xz) where Y represents the root symbol, x the month and put/call code and z the strike price. You can also view these options as an Option Chain (right click on underlying symbol and choose Options Chain).

The strike price values are dramatically different from standard equity and index options strikes as to allow for much smaller movements of the underlying currency. These trade infrequently and seeing 0's throughout the options window is generally the norm.

Special root symbols have been created for each of the FCO series. This will allow a user to pull up an option chain from a quote page. The last price for each underlying root of the FCO series (for ex, the Australian series $CAD, $CAY, CAZ, etc) will all match as they each represent the underlying currency spot price (compared to the USD). 

For ex. the last price on $CAD, $CAY, $CAZ, etc will roughly match that of the main underlying spot currency rate AUD A0-FX, although these FCO roots will only update about once every 10 mins or so.

Strike Price Type Legend:
mm = Mid month expirations
alt = Mid month alternate symbols
even = Mid month even strikes
open = Mid month odd strikes
half = Mid month 1/2 point strike

Style Legend:
AS = American Style (An option that can be exercised anytime before expiration).
ES = European Style (An option that can only be exercised on the expiration date).

For further information on trading and working with these FCO's, please visit the PHLX site.

Symbol	Foreign Currency	Strike Type	Style
$CAD	Australian Dollar	mm	ES
$CAY	Australian Dollar	alt	ES
$CAZ	Australian Dollar	half	ES
$XAD	Australian Dollar	mm	AS
$XAY	Australian Dollar	alt	AS
$XAZ	Australian Dollar	half	AS
$CBP	British Pound	mm	ES
$CBX	British Pound	alt	ES
$CBY	British Pound	alt	ES
$XBP	British Pound	mm	AS
$XBX	British Pound	alt	AS
$XBY	British Pound	alt	AS
$CCD	Canadian Dollar	mm	ES
$CCV	Canadian Dollar	alt	ES
$XCD	Canadian Dollar	mm	AS
$XCV	Canadian Dollar	alt	AS
$ECB	Euro Dollar	odd	ES
$ECU	Euro Dollar	even	ES
$ECY	Euro Dollar	alt	ES
$XEB	Euro Dollar	odd	AS
$XEU	Euro Dollar	even	AS
$XEV	Euro Dollar	alt	AS
$CJJ	Japanese Yen	alt	ES
$CJV	Japanese Yen	alt	ES
$CJY	Japanese Yen	mm	ES
$CJZ	Japanese Yen	half	ES
$XJJ	Japanese Yen	alt	AS
$XJV	Japanese Yen	alt	AS
$XJY	Japanese Yen	mm	AS
$XJZ	Japanese Yen	half	AS
$CSF	Swiss Franc	mm	ES
$CSY	Swiss Franc	alt	ES
$CSZ	Swiss Franc	half	ES
$XSF	Swiss Franc	mm	AS
$XSY	Swiss Franc	alt	AS
$XSZ	Swiss Franc	half	AS