Frequently Asked Questions about Options

(1)What is the minimum unit for trading US stock options?

The minimum unit for trading US stock options is one contract, which generally corresponds to 100 shares. For example, TSLA has an expiration date of July 15, 2030. The current price of a bullish option with an exercise price of 200 is 5.5 dollars, and the contract value is 5.5 dollars * 100 = 550 dollars.

(2) Do options support pre- and post-market trading?

Not supported. The trading hours for options are from 9:30 to 16:00 Eastern Time.

(3) Option call-over time?

Call-over at expiration: Options with call-over at expiration will generally be called-over or voided after the close of trading on the expiration date; if the expiration date is a holiday, the call-over or voidage time may change, please refer to the changes in your account. Early call-over: The rights holder of the option, that is, the buyer does not currently support early call-over of the purchased option in the BiyaPay APP; the option obligor, that is, the seller may be required to call-over at any time by the rights holder (buyer).

(4)Can the purchased options be positioned squaring at any time before the expiration date?
Options before the expiration date, whether long or short, can be traded at any time according to the market price during the trading session before the expiration date.

(5)On the expiration date, if there is no active call-over or position squaring, how will in-the-money options be handled?

Stock options that expire on the same day and are 0.01 dollars or more in the price will be automatically call-over. However, if the investor’s margin does not meet the call-over condition, they will be position squaring at the market price. If it is impossible to position squaring at the market price due to insufficient liquidity or other reasons, BiyaPay reserves the right to void the option, which will result in the entire value of the option being invalidated.

(6)On the expiration date, if the call or put price of the purchased option is lower than 0.01 and the investor does not actively call-over or position squaring, how should the option be handled?

At this time, the option will automatically expire, and your loss is the entire option premium. Generally, if you actively call-over at this time, the loss will be even greater.

(7)Will the automatic expiration of options, forced liquidation, and system call-over be checked in the trading records?

Yes, you can click on the order details to view relevant records and instructions.

(8)Why haven’t the options orders been executed?

Options may not be executed due to the following reasons:

1. The asynchronous quotes between different exchanges result in orders not being executed in a timely manner;
2. The minimum price change unit of different exchanges is different;
3. Since there are combination orders for options, the one-way buy and sell orders submitted may not be executed. For example, for a certain option in TSLA, if you buy one at 5.50 and sell one at 5.60, when you submit a one-way buy order at 5.50, your buy order may not be executed because the sell order at 5.50 is only part of a combination order.
4. The market is illiquid.

(9)What should be done if the account cannot meet the margin requirements on the expiration date of the option contract due to call-over?

BiyaPay usually calculates the funds required for call-over options at or near the price before the close of the option contract expiration date. If it is calculated that the call-over funds in your account are insufficient, BiyaPay may forcibly liquidate your account to avoid insufficient margin after call-over. If you expect that your account may have insufficient margin after call-over, please position squaring or deposit in a timely manner to ensure that the account meets the relevant margin requirements. BiyaPay reserves the following rights to address account risks caused by insufficient call-over funds.

1. Option position squaring before expiration
2. Allow options to lapse
3. Allow call-over and force leveling of other positioning.

(10)Which expiration date stock options can be supported for trading?

Currently, BiyaPay only supports trading stock options that expire on Friday. More stock options with other expiration dates will be available for customers to trade in the future.

(11)Which expiration dates of index option trading can be supported?

Currently, BiyaPay supports trading index options that expire on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

(12)What is the difference between weekly and monthly index options?

Generally speaking, weekly options are P.M. Settlement (the last trading day is the expiration date, and the settlement value is calculated according to the underlying contract price after the expiration date closes ); monthly options are A.M. Settlement (the last trading day is the expiration date T-1, and the settlement value is calculated according to the underlying contract price after the expiration date opens ).

(13)How to distinguish between weekly and monthly index options?

Options with [W] markings after the expiration date of the option chain are weekly options, while those without markings are monthly options.

(14)Which index options trading is supported?

Currently, BiyaPay supports options on many indices such as DJX (Dow Jones 100), NDX (NASDAQ 100), VIX (Volatility Index), XSP (Mini S & P 500), NANOS (Nanos Standard & Poor 500) for customers to trade.

(15)Does the non-standard option after the company’s action support trading?

Currently, BiyaPay supports option trading after option adjustments caused by stock company actions. It should be noted that such adjusted options will be marked as “old options” on the option chain to distinguish them from unadjusted standard options. At the same time, to help you better identify them, the option codes of such options will also be different, for example, special marks such as “AAPL1” may be used. As company actions may cause changes in key elements such as the exercise price, number of contracts per contract, and number of settlement shares per option, we strongly recommend that investors fully understand these changes before trading and carefully evaluate their impact on investment strategies.
Does it support early call-over?
Currently, BiyaPay does not support early call-over of US stock options.