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There are many other problems such as how to handle LEAP options (you need different base symbols for January 09, 10, and 11.) Then there's the issue of non-standard strikes and, of course, stock splits, mergers, and other types of corporate re-organizations. Generally, most of these have been handled by adding more wrap symbols. To give you a feel for how confusing this can really get, I counted 13 different base symbols for GOOG. There's a good chance that unless you were trading Google options, you might not know that OUPAH are the Jan 09 440 Calls.

Proposed Symbols
Well, it's quite clear that the current system cannot continue. So a group of options industry professionals formed a committee "to overhaul the symbology used in representing listed options in data transmissions between market constituents." It may not seem like a big deal, but when you think about the quoting and reporting of options prices and the multitude of platforms that will have to be revised and programmed, and brokers and traders that will need to be re-educated, the project is huge.

The proposed system would have a symbol that would have both alpha and numeric characters and would be up to 21 characters in length. This issue of length was discussed in great detail, because of the amount of data transmission going on there was a fear that the increased length could slow down the transmissions. However, with the ever increasing computer and bandwith technology, it was not determined to be a major issue. The new proposed symbol representing a Microsoft June 47.50 Call would look like this:

The first column, symbol, could be up to 6 characters. The next 3 columns represent the expiration date, then a Put/Call indicator and dollar part of the strike price followed by the decimal part of the strike price. I'm sure they must have a reason for breaking up the strike price like that, but I don't know it. This seems like a pretty nice solution, and there is some flexibility to allow for future changes in the options market, but even so it is not perfect. As new types of exotic options become exchange listed, (binary, one-touch, etc.) the symbology will have to keep pace.

The projected date for making changes is July 31, 2009, although several of my high level contacts tell me that it is likely to be delayed. We shall see.