ES Sept. options expire next friday(9/19)...do they trade on friday(9/19) or not?...will the last available day to trade them be on Thursday 9/18?thanks in advance...
From CME Index FAQ: How do the quarterly E-mini futures settle and when is the last time to trade before expiration? E-mini quarterly contracts expire at the same time and to the same price as their larger counterpart contracts. For quarterly futures contracts, trading can occur up to 8:30 a.m., Chicago time, on the third Friday of the month.
The index futures and options expire at the same time, settle at the same cash price and stop trading at the same time: Friday at 8:30 CDT.
For September and the other quarterlies, the options expire on Friday at the open. A special opening quote is published and all ES futures and options are settled based on that special opening quote. The last day of trading the ES futures is Thursday at 4:15PM. A lot of things can happen between 4:15PM and Friday's special opening quote. When I have any long option positions, I exit them on the Friday before expiration or the following Monday--the latest. If I am short naked options, and they are far OTM, I let them expire. If it is close, I look to close them before Thursday's close. Even though the Sep ES is thinly traded, it does keep up with the S&P index. If I trade any same-month spreads (combos of long and short options), I exit them either the Friday before expiration or the following Monday. For serial expirations (where ES FUT and FOP expire on Friday at 4:15PM and are settled based on the close of the ES future), I basically follow the same rules.