During a period in the mid-1980s, the triple congruence of stock option, index option, and index futures expirations at the stock market close on the 3rd Friday of March, June, September, and December led to brief flurries of extraordinary trading activity and, occasionally, extraordinary volatility.
A series of changes in market structure, changes in the timing of expiration and settlement, and, most importantly, broader dissemination of information have largely diffused this phenomenon since late 1986.
If you're a buy-and-hold investor, expiring options won't matter to you much!
But if the gambler in you wants to give options a try ...
Then BEWARE of the Freaky Fridays!
