On Monday, the?International Securities Exchange (ISE)??announced a March 18, 2013 launch date to begin Mini Options trading.
This news represents the first exchange confirmation for a trading date and it comes after ISE received Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval?for?the new product offering. In the interim, the exchange coordinated with member firms to decide on the appropriate date for launch readiness.?
The new Mini Options?will consist of a deliverable of 10 shares of an underlying security as compared to standard contracts with a deliverable of 100 shares.??ISE will?initially?list the Mini Options on?the following securities:?AAPL, AMZN, GLD, GOOG, and SPY.
Gary Katz, President and CEO of ISE said via a press release,?”We are very pleased to announce a launch date of March 18, 2013,?to begin trading Mini Options. This?exciting new product?will make trading options on popular, high-priced names like Google and Apple more affordable and more flexible for the retail segment of the market. We look forward to coordinating?with our member firms to?achieve?a smooth rollout of?Mini Options in March and to broadening the reach and appeal of the options product to retail investors with this new offering.”
Mini?Options will have the same expiration dates as their standard counterparts including Weeklies and Quarterlies. In addition, strike prices and quoted bids and offers will also align to standard contracts.
As for the the fees associated with?Mini?Options, they will be filed with the SEC and announced at a future date.