The subject matter of an option refers to the assets you choose to buy or sell. Including stocks, national debt, currency, stock index, commodity futures and so on. Options are derived from these subject matter, so they are called derivative financial instruments. Options can be "short". Option buyers may not really want to buy the underlying asset.
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Option trading began in the American and European markets in the late18th century. Due to the imperfect system and other factors, the development of option trading has been suppressed. Due to the different trading methods, directions and targets of options, many options have been produced. Reasonable classification of options is more conducive to understanding option products.
Option is an important hedging derivative tool to meet the needs of international financial institutions and enterprises to control risks and lock in costs. 1997 The Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to the inventor of the option pricing formula (Black-Scholes formula), which also shows that international economists attach importance to option research.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Options