This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved an expansion of option expirations for the so-called Magnificent Seven, a decision that could move the US market closer to daily expiries in single-stock options. The approval allows Nasdaq to list contracts expiring on Mondays and Wednesdays, broadening a market that has historically centered on Friday expirations for individual equities. The newly approved lineup includes Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), according to an SEC notice, with Broadcom and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF also included in the listings.
Single-stock options have until now largely been restricted to Friday expirations, while daily expiries have been limited to a small set of exchange-traded funds such as SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, Invesco QQQ Trust and iShares Russell 2000 ETF. Since weekday expirations were introduced for major index options, those products have drawn strong retail interest and have contributed to options volumes reaching record highs each year for the past six years. Nasdaq first proposed adding Monday and Wednesday expirations for select single stocks in May, positioning the change as a way to align product offerings more closely with evolving trading behavior.
Nasdaq said the expanded expirations could offer investors more precise tools to manage short-term risk and trading strategies. David Barrett, head of product for US Options at Nasdaq, said the decision supports greater flexibility and efficiency for market participants. In the approval notice published on Jan. 16, SEC Deputy Secretary J. Matthew DeLesDernier wrote that the plan may give investors and other market participants more flexibility to tailor investment and hedging decisions, potentially allowing them to manage risk exposure more effectively as the market edges toward more frequent single-stock option expirations.