End-of-day settlement
What happens to open options at the 4:00 PM ET close.
When a session reaches the 4:00 PM ET close, every open option position settles automatically. This page explains what happens to your positions and how the cash is computed.
What settlement does
At 16:00 ET the simulator walks your open positions and resolves each one:
| Condition | Outcome | Record type |
|---|---|---|
| Out-of-the-money option | Expires worthless | Expiration |
In-the-money call (underlying > strike) |
Exercised (if long) / assigned (if short) | Exercise / Assignment |
In-the-money put (underlying < strike) |
Exercised (if long) / assigned (if short) | Exercise / Assignment |
Out-of-the-money options simply expire — no cash changes hands. In-the-money options produce a settlement cash flow.
Cash settlement
SPX (and the related index products NDX, VIX, and XSP) are cash-settled — there are no shares to deliver. An in-the-money option settles for:
settlement_value = (underlying_price − strike) × 100
per contract. A long ITM option receives this value; a short ITM option pays it. An exercise also incurs the $5.00-per-strike settlement fee.
Spreads are netted
Before settling a short leg, the simulator checks whether you hold a covering long leg in the same spread. Covered shorts are handled as part of the spread rather than as a naked exercise, so a defined-risk structure settles to its true net value — you never see a phantom exercise on a leg that was fully hedged.
In historical mode
Settlement is computed up front and becomes visible the moment your clock reaches the close. Advance time to 4:00 PM ET (or later) and the settlement records appear in your transactions, your realized P&L updates, and the simulation is marked ended. Rewind before the close and they disappear again — like everything else in historical replay, settlement is just a view of a precomputed result.
In live mode
In live trading, settlement runs automatically once the official closing tick for the day has been recorded — usually moments after 4:00 PM ET. Until that tick lands, the session is "closed but not yet settled" and your positions hold their last value. Once settlement completes, the session ends and moves into your history alongside your other past sessions.