This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 4, No. 11 on June 8, 1995.
One of the facets of an option's description is when that option may be exercised. This is usually called the style of the option. For example, American style options may be exercised at any time during the life of the option (in reality, they may be exercised at the end of any trading day). The term, style, is applicable to all options although many investors are not too concerned with it. This is because all listed stock options and all listed futures options are American style, and thus the average investor who trades those types of options is quite accustomed to being able to exercise whenever he wants (or, if he has written the option, he knows that he can be assigned at any time).
