Index options are a little strange: the thing you watch and the thing you buy have two different ticker symbols. This page explains why, and why you no longer have to care.
The two-symbol problem
Take SPX, the S&P 500 index.
- SPX is the index itself. It's what has a live price — the number you see quoted around 6,400. You can't buy or sell SPX; it isn't a tradable thing, just a number.
- SPXW is the actual option contract that settles against that index. This is what your broker fills when you place the trade.
The same split shows up on the other big index products:
| You watch this price | Your order is placed on |
|---|---|
| SPX (S&P 500) | SPXW |
| NDX (Nasdaq 100) | NDXP |
| RUT (Russell 2000) | RUTW |
| VIX (volatility index) | VIXW |
Ordinary stocks and ETFs have no such split — SPY is just SPY, AAPL is just AAPL.
What you do
Type either one. On Copy Trade and Hybrid Trade, in the ticker box, you can
enter SPX or SPXW and you'll get the same result. We look up the price on the index
and place the order on the contract, automatically.
When you type one of these tickers, a small amber note appears under the box so you can see exactly what's happening:
Tracking SPX · order placed on SPXW
If that note ever shows something you didn't expect, stop and check before you submit.
Tip
If you're used to searching your broker's option chain for
SPX, keep doing that. Nothing about how you find a strike changes — just type what you're used to.
A worked example
Say the S&P 500 is at 6,412 and you want a call about 8 points out, expiring today.
- On Copy Trade, type
SPXin the ticker box (orSPXW— your choice). - The price shows up: SPX is $6,412.85 now.
- The note underneath reads: Tracking SPX · order placed on SPXW.
- Pick your strike — say 6,420 — and submit.
- The order that reaches the broker is for the SPXW 6,420 call. That's the contract that actually fills.
With price triggers
Price-Triggered Entries work the same way, and this is where the two symbols matter most. The trigger watches the index and buys the contract:
- You set the trigger level against SPX — e.g. "when the S&P touches 6,400."
- When it fires, the order goes in on SPXW.
So if you arm a trigger at 6,400, that's 6,400 on the index — the number you'd see on any S&P chart. It is not a price on the option.
Note
Index options are cash-settled, and they're the one product family your broker excludes from the $10 commission cap. They also carry a small extra per-contract index fee. Your profit numbers in the app already account for this, so the P&L you see is the P&L you get.
Warning
Index options are large. One SPX contract controls roughly 100 × the index — at 6,400 that's about $640,000 of exposure, versus about $64,000 for one SPY contract. Size your position accordingly, and consider XSP (a one-tenth-size S&P index option) if you want the same exposure in smaller pieces.