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Summary
GBP/USD Binary options are cash-settled options with an all-or-nothing payout that allow traders to take a position on the expected direction of the GBP/USD exchange rate. By trading these binary options, traders can speculate on where the GBP/USD exchange rate will be at 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 2:00pm or 3:00pm ET on the designated expiration date.
Contract Specifications
Options Type
Binary Option - A European-style option contract that is cash settled on the expiration date with an all-or-nothing payout.
Underlying
The underlying is the exchange rate for British Pounds to U.S. dollars (GBP/USD) in the spot currency market.
Price Quotation
U.S. dollars and cents.
Minimum Tick Size
$0.25 per contract. All prices must be entered in increments of $0.25, starting from the minimum payout value of $0 to the maximum payout value of $100.
Trading Hours
Regular session trading hours are 8:00am to 5:00pm ET, Monday through Thursday and 8:00am to 4:00pm ET on Friday. Evening session trading hours are from 6:00pm to 9:00pm ET Monday through Thursday. On the contract's specified last trading day, GBP/USD binary contracts close at 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 2:00pm or 3:00pm for intraday contracts or 3:00pm ET for other contracts. For additional information, please refer to the Trading Hours Table.
Last Trading Day
Trading in the contract will stop as of the date listed in the contract's name and in the "At a Glance" table (right).
Expiration Date
The date on which the expiration value for the contract is calculated or released. For GBP/USD binary options, the expiration date is usually the same day as the last trading day, which is listed in the "At a Glance" table (right).
Settlement Date and Time
The date on which the final settlement value is determined and cash payouts are made to the appropriate member accounts. Contracts are settled on the specified settlement date, which is listed in the "At a Glance" table (right). Settlement generally occurs within an hour of a contract's closing time (the closing time is displayed in the name of the contract). For GBP/USD binary options, the settlement date is usually the same as the expiration date.
Expiration Value
The GBP/USD exchange rate is calculated by HedgeStreet using a proprietary algorithm that takes a sampling of data points obtained from the GBP/USD spot market. HedgeStreet calculates the expiration value by taking the last 25 midpoints1 in the spot currency market just prior to the close of trading in the designated HedgeStreet binary option contract and removes the highest 5 and the lowest 5 midpoints, using the remaining 15 midpoints to calculate the expiration value. The calculation used is a simple average of all 15 GBP/USD midpoints.
For a detailed summary of the Source Agencies providing the expiration values for all Binaries, please refer to the Settlement Source Table.
Settlement Value
The settlement value, a cash payout, is either $0 or $100.
Speculative Position Limits
There is no aggregate position limit.
Strike Price Intervals
Intraday duration: 0.0080 increments for all strike prices; Daily duration: 0.0020 increments for all strike prices; Weekly duration: 0.0050 increments for all strike prices.
Underlying Data Feed
GBP/USD underlying price quotes are received from Reuters. Data is displayed in real-time if a member is logged in and is 30 minutes delayed if a member is logged out. The data is viewable in the Trader Center and under the "Underlying Price" column on the Quotes & Charts page. The data shown represents the midpoint1 between the Bid and Ask values obtained from the spot foreign currency market.
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Example
3PM GBP/USD > 1.6000 (08 May 09)
This binary options contract allows traders to take a position on whether the GBP/USD exchange rate, as calculated by HedgeStreet, will be greater than 1.6000 at 3:00pm ET on May 8, 2009.
Binary Name Format
[LTD CLOSE TIME][ASSET][STRIKE OPERATOR][STRIKE PRICE][LAST TRADING DAY]
LTD Close Time
"3PM" - The time on the last trading date that the contract will stop trading.
Asset
"GBP/USD" - The underlying for the binary option.
Strike Operators
">" - The payout is based on whether the GBP/USD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet on the settlement date is greater than (>) a specified level.
Strike Price
"1.6000" - The price level against which the final expiration value of the GBP/USD is compared to determine the settlement value ($0 or $100) for the contract.
Last Trading Day
"(08 May 09)" - The date the contract will stop trading.
Positions
Buy if you think the GBP/USD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet on May 8, 2009 will be greater than 1.6000.
Sell if you think the GBP/USD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet on May 8, 2009 will be less than or equal to 1.6000.
Settlement
Buyers receive a cash payout of $100 per contract if the GBP/USD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet is greater than 1.6000 on May 8, 2009.
Sellers receive a cash payout of $100 per contract if the GBP/USD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet is less than or equal to 1.6000 on May 8, 2009.
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