Index Futures and Options
The series name standards are illustrated below:
Root Symbol
HSI – Hang Seng Index
MHI – Mini-Hang Seng Index
HHI – Hang Seng China Enterprises Index
MCH – Mini-Hang Seng China Enterprises Index
For details, refer to the Instrument Explorer window in the CLICK Trade application
or the HKEx website www.hkex.com.hk/prod/equityip/equityindexproducts.htm
Contract Month Code
Contract Month Contract Month Code
Futures Call Put
January F A M
February G B N
March H C O
April J D P
May K E Q
June M F R
July N G S
August Q H T
September U I U
October V J V
November X K W
December Z L X
Contract Year Code
7 – 2007
8 – 2008
9 – 2009
0 – 2010
Series Name of Index Futures
The first 3 characters – The Root Symbol
The 4th character – The Contract Month Code
The 5th character – The Contract Year Code
Example:
Buy one “HSIU7” contract = Buy one Hang Seng Index Futures expiring in September 2007
Series Name of Index Options
The first 3 characters – The Root Symbol
The next 5 characters – The Strike Price
The 9th character – The Call/Put Contract Month Code
The 10th character – The Contract Year Code
Examples:
Buy one “HSI16000A8” contract = Buy one Hang Seng Index Call Option expiring in January 2008 with Strike Price at 16000
Sell one “HHI5800V7” contract = Sell one Hang Seng China Enterprises Index Put Option expiring in October 2007 with Strike Price at 5800
Series Name of Index Standard Combinations
Type 1: Calendar Spreads
The first 3 characters – The Root Symbol
The 4th and 5th characters – The Contract Month Code and Contract Year Code of the Near Month Contract
The 6th character – The “/” symbol
The 7th and 8th characters – The Contract Month Code and Contract Year Code of the Far Month Contract
Long a calendar spread of Index Futures at a positive price involves selling the near month contract at a discount price (in comparison with the far month contract) and buying the far month contract at a premium price (in comparison with the near month contract) simultaneously.
Long a calendar spread of Index Futures at a negative price involves selling the near month contract at a premium price (in comparison with the far month contract) and buying the far month contract at a discount price (in comparison with the near month contract) simultaneously.
While short a calendar spread of Index Futures at a positive/negative price is just doing the opposite.
Examples:
Buy one “MHIN8/U8” contract = Buy one Mini-Hang Seng Index Futures expiring in September 2008 and at the same time sell one expiring in July 2008.
Sell one “HHIF9/H9” contract = Buy one Hang Seng China Enterprises Index Futures expiring in January 2009 and at the same time sell one expiring in March 2009.
Type 2: Straddles
A straddle involves buying both the call option and the put option of the same expiry month at the same Strike Price.
The first 3 characters – The Root Symbol
The next 3 characters – The first 3 digits of the Strike Price
The 7th and 8th characters – The Contract Month Code and Contract Year Code of the call option
The 9th character – The “/” symbol
The 10th and 11th characters – The Contract Month Code and Contract Year Code of the put option
Long a Straddle of Index Options is buying both the call option and the put option of the same expiry month at the same Strike Price.
Short a Straddle of Index Options is selling both the call option and the put option of the same expiry month at the same Strike Price.
Example:
Buy one “HSI150K8/W8” contract = Buy one Hang Seng Index call option and put option expiring in November 2008 with the same Strike Price at 15000 at the same time.
* Straddles are available in the Hang Seng Index Options market ONLY*
Type 3: Strangles
A Strangle involves buying a call option at a higher strike price and a put option at a lower strike price of the same expiry month.
The first 3 characters – The Root Symbol
The next 3 characters – The first 3 digits of Strike Price of the call option The 7th and 8th characters – The Contract Month Code and Contract Year Code of the call option
The 9th character – The “/” symbol
The next 3 characters – The first 3 digits of Strike Price of the put option
The 13th and 14th characters – The Contract Month Code and Contract Year Code of the put option
Long a Strangle of Index Options involves buying a call option at a higher strike price and a put option at a lower strike price of the same expiry month.
Short a Strangle of Index Options involves selling a call option at a higher strike price and a put option at a lower strike price of the same expiry month
Example:
Buy one “HSI178J8/174V8” contract = Buy one Hang Seng Index call option with Strike Price at 17800 and put option with Strike Price at 17400 expiring in October 2008 at the same time.
* Strangles are available in the Hang Seng Index Options market ONLY*
*For details of the Hang Seng Index, Mini-Hang Seng Index, H-shares Index, FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Futures and Options, Hang Seng China H-Financials Index and Mini-H-shares Index Futures, refer to the respective specifications online.