For a futures option, how can I determine the delivery month of the underlying futures contract? I thought it might be the earliest delivery whose last trading day is after the option's expiration, but there are exceptions. I thought it might be the delivery with the same month code as the option, but there are exceptions. So when you trade a futures option, how do you know exactly which futures contract it is for?
Every product has listing rules. With a new listing comes an expected delivery date. The CME website can provide you details, but memorizing them is difficult and unnecessary. Here is a primer for one contract: https://www.cmegroup.com/education/...s/understanding-listings-and-expirations.html More easily, you can look at an Options expiration calendar or other display that shows a corresponding Future for each contract. https://www.cmegroup.com/tools-information/quikstrike/options-calendar.html I just add a column (days to Expiration and underlying price) on my trading platform. However, there are guys on ET who have coded these listing rules in anticipation of a newly tradeable product. Maybe, someone can provide a compact guide.
From my colleague John Thorpe: You are correct, many Futures Options , whether the underlying is deliverable or cash settled often determine the rules the exchange uses for assigning an option expiration to a particular futures contract Month. . If you are curious about a few contracts you trade , please tell us which ones , this venue has it's limitations for a long winded discussion which needs to occur. If you want to do your own research, go to the CME website and search for option expiration rules. I'd be happy to speak with you over the phone ( or PM if interested) to clarify how these work and why they are established the way they are, for Ag options, Financial options, metals, energies, interest rates and so on.