The Options Expiration Week Effect (Options Week Anomaly And Seasonality) | OPEX

The options expiration happens on the Friday before the 3rd Saturday of each month in the US. An often referred to effect is the options expiration week effect. Is this effect real, or is it just a myth? In this article, we test the option expiration week effect:

S&P 500 shows above-average returns during the options expiration week. Only July and January show negative returns during the options expiration week, while April is the best month. Overall, there seems to be an options expiration week effect.

Below we discuss every aspect of the options expiration week and how stocks perform during that particular week. Also, please remember that the week is often referred to as OPEX week.

Options expiration week trading strategies

Before you go on to read about the options expiration week, we would like to remind you that we have two trading strategies that specifically trade only during this week.

The first strategy is