Options FAQ: Where can investors find information on corporate actions?

Corporate Actions: An Overview

Corporate actions like mergers, stock splits, spin-offs, and bankruptcies are common in today’s financial markets—but they can significantly affect the underlying securities and their related options contracts.

Options FAQ: How might investors navigate options disclosures?

Before opening a trading account for options, investors must receive the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options document, also known as the Options Disclosure Document (ODD). But what exactly is the ODD, and what resources are available to help investors better understand the risks of options?

Options FAQ: How might corporate actions impact options?

Did you know that corporate actions like stock splits, mergers, acquisitions, and special dividends, among others, can change the terms of your options contract?

Corporate Actions: Bankruptcies

Bankruptcy can significantly impact both a company’s stock and its associated option contracts.

Corporate Actions: Cash Dividends

Cash dividends may seem straightforward—but their impact on options contracts is more complex. In this video, we explain how dividends influence options pricing, the role of models like Black-Scholes, and how OCC determines whether to adjust contracts.

Corporate Actions: Forward Splits

A forward stock split increases the number of outstanding shares while reducing the price per share proportionally - but what does this mean for option holders?

Corporate Actions: Reverse Stock Splits

A reverse stock split reduces the number of a company’s outstanding shares while increasing the share price proportionally—but what does this mean for option holders?

Corporate Actions: Mergers

Mergers, acquisitions, and consolidations can lead to significant changes in how stock and options are traded.