Assignment
Definition · Level 1 · Options basics
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Notice that an option you are short has been exercised, obliging you to sell (short call) or buy (short put) the stock at the strike.
Example
“Got assigned on my 55 calls” = shares delivered away at 55.
Where Tradecraft teaches it
Level 1 · Options basics, in the lesson “Exercise, assignment & settlement”: American vs European, auto-exercise, early exercise, physical vs cash, splits.
Related terms
- AM vs PM settlementWhether a cash-settled index option's final value comes from opening prices on expiration morning (standard monthly SPX, last trade the day before)…
- American-styleExercisable on any business day up to and including expiration; the norm for US stock and ETF options.
- Cash settlementSettling in cash instead of delivering the underlying: an exercised option pays its intrinsic value × multiplier; a futures contract pays the…
- Contract adjustmentOCC change to an option's deliverable, strike or quantity after a split, merger or special dividend, keeping both sides economically whole.
- DeliverableExactly what changes hands if a contract is exercised: 100 shares of the stock for a standard US equity option; after a split, merger or special…
- Early exerciseUsing an American option's right before expiration.