Easily Retrieve Option Expiration Dates

The Expirations function in MarketXLS allows you to quickly pull available option expiration dates for a specified symbol directly into Excel. By optionally filtering expiring dates, in-the-money or out-of-the-money options, and call/put types, you can speed up research and decision-making when dealing with options data, all within your familiar spreadsheet environment.

Why Use This Function?

• Easily gather all available expiration dates for a specific stock’s options.
• Filter for specific needs such as only call expirations or only put expirations.
• Focus on in-the-money, out-of-the-money, or all strikes.
• Automatically populate the relevant expiration dates in Excel, ready for further calculations or quick comparisons.
• Enhance your trading or hedging strategies by precisely controlling which expirations to analyze.

How to Use in Excel

Expirations(Symbol, [Expire], [Money], [CallPutFlag])

1. Type “=Expirations(” in any Excel cell.
2. Provide the Symbol (for example, "AAPL" for Apple).
3. Optionally specify the Expire parameter to filter by a certain expiration date or "all" (default).
4. Optionally specify the Money parameter to filter by in-the-money, out-of-the-money, or "all" (default).
5. Optionally specify the CallPutFlag parameter to see only calls ("call"), only puts ("put"), or "all" (default).
6. Press Enter to see a list of relevant expiration dates automatically placed below the formula cell.

When blank values are passed for any optional parameter, MarketXLS treats them as "all," ensuring you still get valid output even if you omit details.

Parameters Explained

Note: The function ultimately prints expiration dates in a vertical arrangement. If you see a warning about overwriting cells below, confirm or cancel as needed.

Example Usage

Basic Examples

1. Show All Expirations for Apple:
   • Enter in a cell:
   =Expirations("AAPL")
   • Press Enter.
   • Excel will list all available AAPL option expirations below the formula cell.

2. Show Only Calls for Microsoft:
   • Enter in a cell:
   =Expirations("MSFT","all","all","call")
   • Press Enter.
   • This lists all expiration dates where calls are available for MSFT.

3. Focus on a Specific Expiration and Both Call/Put:
   • Example for Apple 2023-12-15 expiration only:
   =Expirations("AAPL","2023-12-15")
   • If only that date is valid, you’ll see that single expiration date. If invalid or not yet supported, the function may return “No Data Retrieved”.

Advanced Scenarios

• Filtering Expiration for In-the-Money Contracts Only:
=Expirations("TSLA","all","itm","all")
This would only list expirations that have in-the-money strikes, narrowing your data.
• Integrate with other Excel formulas to prepare an options chain analysis dashboard. For instance, you might combine Expirations with separate calls to retrieve strikes or Greeks, building a complete option data setup.

Common Questions and Troubleshooting

1. “Why am I seeing ‘No Data Retrieved’?”

   • This might occur if the symbol is invalid or if there are no expirations matching your filters. Double-check your symbol and parameters.

2. “Why do my cells get overwritten?”

   • MarketXLS places the list of expiration dates underneath the formula cell. If there’s data below, MarketXLS asks for approval before overwriting.

3. “Can I retrieve only puts?”

   • Yes. Use: =Expirations("AAPL","all","all","put").

4. “Do I need to specify all parameters every time?”

   • No. Only Symbol is required. You may omit others (or leave them blank) to default to "all."

By refining the Expirations parameters, you can get more precise or more comprehensive data for your trading or research workflows. This function is especially powerful for quickly populating multiple expiration dates in Excel, which can then be manipulated for further analysis in MarketXLS.