Exercising the option


Exercising the option

The act of buying or selling the underlying asset via the option contract.

Exercise

In option contracts, to buy (in the case of a call) or sell (in the case of a put) the underlying asset. The option holder has no obligation to exercise the option, and only does so if he/she believes it benefits him/her. Depending upon the nature of the option, this may be done at any point during the life of the contract, or it may only be done on the contract's expiry date. The strike price of the sale is agreed-upon in the option contract, that is, before the option is exercised.