STRASMORE/EXPLORE 2,182 QUERIES

How a new option chain widens: strikes and expirations traded

Answered against 22 years of US equities and 12 years of US options data and published with the query that produced it. This result is stored as of 2026-09-09, from When Do Options Start Trading After an IPO?.

as of ranking 12×3read in context →
How a new option chain widens: strikes and expirations traded — 12 rows by 3 columns, computed from US exchange, SIP and OPRA data.
weeks_since_first_optionmedian_strikes_tradedmedian_expirations_traded
094
1104
2104
3114
4114
5114
6125
7125
8125
9125
10125
11125
Rows × columns
12 × 3
Computed
Completeness
No missing values
Source
US exchange, SIP and OPRA market data
Licence
Strasmore terms · free, no signup
Formats
JSON · CSV · the SQL below

What each column holds

Column definitions for How a new option chain widens: strikes and expirations traded, derived from the stored result.
ColumnTypeRangeNotes
weeks_since_first_option number 0 to 11
median_strikes_traded number 9 to 12
median_expirations_traded number 4 to 5

Computed from Strasmore's warehouse of US exchange, SIP and OPRA market data. Equity prices are delayed; options greeks and implied volatility are end-of-day. This result is stored, not recomputed on load — it is exactly the numbers that were returned on , and the query below is what returned them.

the exact SQL behind every number
WITH
listings AS (
    SELECT
        ticker,
        min(listing_date) AS listed_on
    FROM global_markets.stocks_ipos
    WHERE listing_date >= '2024-01-01'
      AND listing_date < today()
      AND ticker NOT IN ('SPCX')
    GROUP BY ticker
),
debut AS (
    SELECT
        a.ticker                                                 AS symbol,
        min(a.date)                                              AS debut_date,
        argMin(toFloat64(a.close) * toFloat64(a.volume), a.date) AS debut_turnover
    FROM global_markets.stocks_daily_aggs AS a
    INNER JOIN listings AS l ON l.ticker = a.ticker
    WHERE a.date >= '2024-01-01'
      AND a.date >= l.listed_on
    GROUP BY a.ticker
),
cohort AS (
    SELECT
        symbol,
        debut_date
    FROM debut
    ORDER BY debut_turnover DESC
    LIMIT 40
),
first_option AS (
    SELECT
        g.underlying_symbol AS symbol,
        min(g.date)         AS option_date
    FROM global_markets.options_greeks AS g
    INNER JOIN cohort AS c ON c.symbol = g.underlying_symbol
    WHERE g.date >= '2024-01-01'
      AND g.volume > 0
      AND g.date >= c.debut_date
    GROUP BY g.underlying_symbol
),
daily_chain AS (
    SELECT
        g.underlying_symbol             AS symbol,
        g.date                          AS d,
        uniqExact(g.strike_price)       AS strikes,
        uniqExact(g.expiration_date)    AS expiries
    FROM global_markets.options_greeks AS g
    INNER JOIN first_option AS f ON f.symbol = g.underlying_symbol
    WHERE g.volume > 0
      AND g.date >= f.option_date
      AND dateDiff('day', f.option_date, g.date) < 84
    GROUP BY symbol, d
)
SELECT
    intDiv(dateDiff('day', f.option_date, c.d), 7)                                       AS weeks_since_first_option,
    toUInt32(round(quantileDeterministic(toFloat64(c.strikes), cityHash64(c.symbol))))   AS median_strikes_traded,
    toUInt32(round(quantileDeterministic(toFloat64(c.expiries), cityHash64(c.symbol))))  AS median_expirations_traded
FROM daily_chain AS c
INNER JOIN first_option AS f ON f.symbol = c.symbol
GROUP BY weeks_since_first_option
ORDER BY weeks_since_first_option

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