USD/CAD Binary options are cash-settled options with an all-or-nothing payout that allow traders to take a position on the expected direction of the USD/CAD exchange rate. By trading these binary options, traders can speculate on where the USD/CAD exchange rate will be at 10:00am, 12:00pm, 2:00pm or 3:00pm ET on the designated expiration date.

Options Type
Binary Option - A European-style option contract that is cash settled on the expiration date with an all-or-nothing payout.

Underlying
The underlying is the exchange rate for U.S. dollars to Canadian Dollars (USD/CAD) in the spot currency market.

Price Quotation
U.S. dollars and cents.

Minimum Tick Size
$0.25 per contract. All prices must be entered in increments of $0.25, starting from the minimum payout value of $0 to the maximum payout value of $100.

Trading Hours
Regular session trading hours are 8:00am to 5:00pm ET, Monday through Thursday and 8:00am to 3:00pm ET on Friday. Evening session trading hours are from 6:00pm to 9:00pm ET Monday through Thursday. On the contract's specified last trading day, USD/CAD binary contracts close at 10:00am, 12:00pm or 2:00pm for intraday contracts or 3:00pm ET for other contracts. For additional information, please refer to the Trading Hours Table.

Last Trading Day
Trading in the contract will stop as of the date listed in the contract's name and in the "At a Glance" table (right).

Expiration Date
The date on which the expiration value for the contract is calculated or released. For USD/CAD binary options, the expiration date is usually the same day as the last trading day, which is listed in the "At a Glance" table (right).

Settlement Date and Time
The date on which the final settlement value is determined and cash payouts are made to the appropriate member accounts. Contracts are settled on the specified settlement date, which is listed in the "At a Glance" table (right). Settlement generally occurs within an hour of a contract's closing time (the closing time is displayed in the name of the contract). For USD/CAD binary options, the settlement date is usually the same as the expiration date.

Expiration Value
The USD/CAD exchange rate is calculated by HedgeStreet using a proprietary algorithm that takes a sampling of data points obtained from the USD/CAD spot market. HedgeStreet calculates the expiration value by taking the last 25 midpoints¹ in the spot currency market just prior to the close of trading in the designated HedgeStreet binary option contract and removes the highest 5 and the lowest 5 midpoints, using the remaining 15 midpoints to calculate the expiration value. The calculation used is a simple average of all 15 USD/CAD midpoints.

For a detailed summary of the Source Agencies providing the expiration values for all Binaries, please refer to the Settlement Source Table.

Settlement Value
The settlement value, a cash payout, is either $0 or $100.

Speculative Position Limits
There is no aggregate position limit.

Strike Price Intervals
Daily duration: 0.0020 increments for all strike prices; Weekly duration: 0.0050 increments for all strike prices.

Underlying Data Feed
USD/CAD underlying price quotes are received from Reuters. Data is displayed in real-time if a member is logged in and is 30 minutes delayed if a member is logged out. The data is viewable in the Trader Center and under the "Underlying Price" column on the Quotes & Charts page. The data shown represents the midpoint¹ between the Bid and Ask values obtained from the spot foreign currency market.

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3PM USD/CAD > 1.0000 (31 Oct 08)
This binary options contract allows traders to take a position on whether the USD/CAD exchange rate, as calculated by HedgeStreet, will be greater than 1.0000 at 3:00pm ET on October 31, 2008.

Binary Name Format
[LTD CLOSE TIME][ASSET][STRIKE OPERATOR][STRIKE PRICE][LAST TRADING DAY]

LTD Close Time
"3PM" - The time on the last trading date that the contract will stop trading.

Asset
"USD/CAD" - The underlying for the binary option.

Strike Operators
">" - The payout is based on whether the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet on the settlement date is greater than (>) a specified level. (For "<=", the payout is based on whether the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet on the settlement date is less than or equal to (<=) a specified level.)

Strike Price
"1.0000" - The price level against which the final expiration value of the USD/CAD is compared to determine the settlement value ($0 or $100) for the contract.

Last Trading Day
"(31 Oct 08)" - The date the contract will stop trading.

Positions
For contracts with a ">" (greater than) strike operator, buy if you think the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet on October 31, 2008 will be greater than 1.0000. (For "<=", buy if you think the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet on October 31, 2008 will be less than or equal to 1.0000.)

For contracts with a ">" (greater than) strike operator, sell if you think the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet on October 31, 2008 will be less than or equal to 1.0000. (For "<=", sell if you think the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet on October 31, 2008 will be greater than 1.0000.)

Settlement
For contracts with a ">" (greater than) strike operator, buyers receive a cash payout of $100 per contract if the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet is greater than 1.0000 on October 31, 2008. (For "<=", buyers receive a cash payout of $100 per contract if the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet is less than or equal to 1.0000 on October 31, 2008.)

For contracts with a ">" (greater than) strike operator, sellers receive a cash payout of $100 per contract if the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet is less than or equal to 1.0000 on October 31, 2008. (For "<=", sellers receive a cash payout of $100 per contract if the USD/CAD exchange rate calculated by HedgeStreet is greater than 1.0000 on October 31, 2008.)

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**The data displayed herein represents the expiration value for USD/CAD as calculated by HedgeStreet. The data is being provided for informational purposes only and should not be the sole information relied upon in making investment decisions. HedgeStreet does not guarantee or make any representation as to their accuracy and completeness.

In the event that any market irregularities are declared by HedgeStreet, trading in this Binary market may be halted. If it is determined by HedgeStreet that the market must be halted for any other reason, an explanation will be posted on HedgeStreet's website within a reasonable amount of time but no later than 24 hours after the initiation of the halt. To provide as extensive and relevant a market as possible, HedgeStreet may add new Binary offerings frequently and at its sole discretion. In some cases, new Binary offerings may affect the demand (and thus in some cases the liquidity and/or trading price) for existing, related Binaries. Traders should consider this dynamic aspect of HedgeStreet when making trading decisions.

¹ A midpoint is calculated by adding the bid and ask price together and dividing that number by 2. For example, if the bid price is 1.3400 and the ask price is 1.3402, the prices are added together (totaling 2.6802) and then divided by 2, equaling a midpoint of 1.3401. If the spread between a particular bid price and ask price is deemed too wide (greater than three 3 pips), those prices will not be used to calculate a midpoint and will not be included as part of the 25 midpoint values.