Reading stock option quotes may seem like another language to some investors who are not familiar with online options trading. It is actually not all that different than reading a normal stock ticker quote. Each have similar characteristics like a bid and ask price, as well as several other attributes.

Stock option quotes do not differ all that much from a traditional stock quote. They both usually have the most recent traded price, a bid and ask price, as well as the size of that last trade and the size of the bid and ask. Other shared information includes daily volume, the day high and low, and the previous close price. The information found on a stock option quote also differs between online discount brokers or financial sites that you access this information.

So what are the actually differences between a stock option quote and a normal stock quote? There is one major differences between the two, which is the ticker symbol.

One of the most obvious differences when reading stock option quotes is the ticker symbol. Most investors have come to know popular stock ticker symbols like IBM, MSFT, BAC, GE, and ORCL to name a few. But when it comes to a stock option quote, things change a little and it can be hard to understand where they come from.

The main difference is that each call or put option ticker is different. They are made up of 3 distinct values that make each one of them unique. The first portion of the option ticker symbol is the option symbol. Most of the time, this value represents the actually stock ticker symbol, but is not always the case. It is also important to remember that this portion of the stock option ticker may change from time to time.

The second part of the stock option ticker symbol represents if the option is a put or call and the month it expires in. These values are consistent across all options contracts. For example, a call expiring in January would be represented by an 'A'. A put expiring in January would be represented with an 'M'. For further details on this chart, please refer to the following matrix - stock option quotes.

The third portion of the stock option ticker symbol represents the stock option quote price. For example, an 'A' represents $5, where a 'B' corresponds to $10. There are several potential codes that represent a strike price.

For additional information on Options Trading advice, check out - Option Income System for more details.