Glossary / Instruments
Assignment
Definition
Being required to fulfil an option contract you sold.
Why it matters
Early assignment usually happens around dividends on short calls, and it converts a defined-risk position into a stock position overnight.
Example
Selling a $50 put that expires with the stock at $47 means buying 100 shares at $50 - $5,000 of capital and a $300 unrealised loss on day one.
How to track it in a journal
TradeStack calculates the core performance numbers — win rate, average win and loss, profit factor, expectancy, drawdown and consistency — automatically from imported trades, so assignment stops being something you estimate and becomes something you read.
Related terms
Tick value
The dollar value of the smallest price increment of a contract.
Pip
The standard smallest price move in a currency pair, usually 0.0001.
Lot size
The trade unit in forex: 100,000 units for a standard lot.
Contract specifications
The exchange definition of a futures contract: size, tick, hours and expiry.
Keep reading
Trading journal guides
Expectancy, profit factor, drawdown, backtesting and the PDT rule.
Free trading calculators
Position size, risk-reward, expectancy and options profit.
Expectancy calculator
Expected profit per trade from your own numbers.
Broker CSV export guides
Step-by-step exports for Tradovate, NinjaTrader, IBKR and more.
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