Weeklys

Options that expire every week rather than monthly — popular for short-term trades and precise timing around events.

Weeklys are options that expire every Friday rather than only on the third Friday of the month, the way traditional monthly contracts do. Most liquid names like SPY, QQQ or big single stocks now have expirations available every week, and the busiest indices even offer several per week. Because a Weekly has only a few days of life left, its price is dominated by short-dated theta and reacts sharply to any move in the underlying.

In practice traders reach for Weeklys when they have a view on a specific near-term event: an earnings report on Thursday, a Fed meeting, or simply a quick directional bet into the weekend. Say a stock trades at 100 and you expect a small pop after tomorrow's numbers. Buying a 101 call expiring Friday costs a fraction of a monthly call because there is almost no time value baked in. If you are right you get a lot of leverage; if the move stalls, the option can lose most of its value in a single session.

The common mistake is treating cheap Weeklys as low risk. That fast theta decay cuts both ways, and gamma near expiration means the position swings violently around the strike. Selling Weeklys for premium looks attractive until one gap through your strike wipes out weeks of small gains.

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Educational use only. Quotes are delayed ~15 minutes and nothing here is financial advice. Options trading involves substantial risk of loss.