The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) rules governing the automatic exercise of in-the-money equity options at expiration are changing. Effective Saturday, October 21, 2006, any equity option that is $0.05 or greater in the money at expiration will be automatically exercised.(1) The previous threshold was $0.25. For example, an October 25 call will be automatically exercised if the underlying security's closing price is $25.05 or greater at expiration.