Risk Limits

Risk Limits

Options position limit examples

Options are treated like Futures in regards to risk-checking. Calls and Puts are treated as separate products when performing position limits checks and margin calculations. This means that on a given Option contract, buying a Call and selling a Put will not offset each other at the Product level. The maximum Option position and Max Long/Short are tracked and applied separately to Calls and Puts for a product.

Options maximum position limit per product: Example 1

An account has one position limit: an Option Maximum Position (net) limit of ten (10) for the GE product. The account has already been used to buy five (5) GE Jun19 Calls at a Strike Price of 9500. The account can now be used for either one of the following:

  • Buy up to five (5) GE Calls or Puts (of any GE options contract) before reaching the GE Option Maximum Position limit of long 10.
  • Sell up to 15 GE Calls or Puts (of any GE options contact) before reaching the GE Option Maximum Position limit of short 10.

Options and futures maximum position limit: Example 2

An account has one position limit: a Maximum Position per contract limit of five (5) for the GE product. The account has already been used to buy five (5) GE Jun19 Calls at a Strike Price of 9500. The account could now be used to:

  • Buy up to five (5) GE Calls (except the GE Jun19 Call at 9500), or sell up to five (5) GE Calls of any GE options contract before reaching the GE Strategy Maximum Position limit of 5 on a particular contract.

There is no interaction between position limits for Options and Futures/Future Spreads. When trading Futures/Future Spreads, it does not offset option positions and vice versa.

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