# Option Event Risk Calendar: Earnings, Macro Releases, Dividends, and Expiration

Build an option event calendar that records authoritative dates, release times, affected positions, implied volatility, gap exposure, dividends, assignment, and expiration actions.

Canonical: https://wiki.fcontext.com/options/option-event-risk-calendar/
Fact checked: 2026-07-22

> For educational purposes only; not investment advice.

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## Direct answer

An **option event risk calendar** maps authoritative event dates and release times to each open or proposed position. It should show what can change, which expirations contain the event, how much gap and volatility risk the position carries, and what action is required before and after the event.

At minimum, record earnings, investor events, regulatory or court decisions, corporate actions, ex-dividend dates, macro releases, central-bank decisions, option expiration, and broker exercise deadlines. Dates can change, so a calendar is a monitored risk control rather than a one-time list.

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## Why calendar events change option risk

A scheduled event concentrates uncertainty into a known time window. Options expiring after the event may embed that event variance, while an earlier expiration does not. The result can appear as a kink in the implied-volatility term structure. IV may rise, fall, or remain stable before the announcement depending on how event variance and ordinary daily variance are already priced; it is not a rule that every option's IV must rise.

After information arrives, uncertainty may fall and IV may be repriced sharply. A long option can therefore lose from lower Vega exposure even when the underlying moves in the expected direction. A short option can benefit from repricing but remains exposed to a gap much larger than the premium collected.

Events also create discontinuities. Delta, Gamma, and stop orders describe or respond to local trading conditions; they do not cap loss through an overnight gap or trading halt. Bid-ask spreads may widen, Mid may not be executable, and multileg orders can become difficult to close.

Dividends require a separate workflow. The ex-dividend date can affect the stock and option relationship, and a short American-style Call may face early assignment when the remaining time value is small relative to the dividend economics. Assignment decisions belong to holders, so a short writer cannot assume a position will remain intact.

## What each calendar row should contain

- underlying and affected option positions;
- event name, official source URL, status, and last verification time;
- date, exact time, time zone, and whether the release is before market, during market, or after market;
- first expiration before the event and first expiration after it;
- current spot, option quotes, IV by relevant expiration, Greeks, and spread;
- maximum contractual loss and a gap scenario beyond the expected move;
- dividend amount, ex-date, record date, and short-Call assignment review where relevant;
- decision deadline, intended action, responsible person, and post-event review time.

Use issuer investor-relations pages and SEC filings for company events, the Federal Reserve for FOMC dates, BLS for scheduled economic releases, and official exchange or issuer data for dividends. Treat aggregator dates as leads to verify, not authoritative facts.

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## Worked risk row

A stock is `$100`. Earnings are scheduled after market close in two days. A trader sells one seven-day `$95 Put` for `$1.50`; multiplier is 100.

- premium received: `$1.50 x 100 = $150`;
- expiration breakeven: `$95 - $1.50 = $93.50`;
- maximum expiration loss if the stock becomes worthless: `($95 - $1.50) x 100 = $9,350`;
- if the stock gaps 15% to `$85` and remains there at expiration, loss is `($95 - $85 - $1.50) x 100 = $850`.

The `$150` credit is small relative to the gap exposure. A stop order near `$93.50` does not guarantee a fill there if the first post-event trade is `$85`. The calendar row therefore flags earnings as after-hours, identifies this expiration as containing the event, records the current IV and spread, and requires a decision before the closing bell.

Suppose the at-the-money Call and Put together cost `$8`. Traders sometimes describe `$8 / $100 = 8%` as an option-implied move heuristic. It is not a guaranteed range, a forecast of direction, or a complete probability interval; strike choice, quote side, time value, rates, dividends, and volatility skew affect interpretation.

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## Weekly and daily operating checklist

- Rebuild the next 30-, 60-, and 90-day views at least weekly.
- Reverify high-impact dates from primary sources shortly before the event.
- Normalize every timestamp to the trading desk's time zone and preserve the source time zone.
- Flag tentative, estimated, rescheduled, and unconfirmed dates distinctly.
- Map events to expirations; “same week” does not prove an option contains the release.
- Review all legs and the net position, including stock and correlated hedges.
- Compare IV across adjacent expirations and record the quote side used.
- Stress gaps beyond the option-implied move in both directions.
- Check whether the market will be open and whether a hedge can trade when news arrives.
- Review ex-dividend exposure and remaining extrinsic value on short Calls.
- Record expiration, last trading, exercise, and broker cut-off times separately.
- Check buying power after a gap, volatility expansion, exercise, or assignment.
- Decide before the event whether to hold, reduce, close, hedge, or accept the risk; the calendar does not choose for you.
- After the event, record realized move, IV change, spread, fills, and any assignment.
- Remove stale alerts only after confirming the event and all resulting operational tasks are complete.

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## Common misconceptions

- “Every event makes IV rise beforehand.” The event may already be embedded in the term structure, and other inputs also move.
- “IV crush means every long option loses.” Direction, magnitude, Gamma, time, and strike matter alongside Vega.
- “Premium received is the amount at risk.” Short options can lose much more than the credit.
- “A stop loss protects against an overnight gap.” Execution can occur far beyond the trigger.
- “An earnings date from one website is final.” Issuers can update timing, and estimated dates need verification.
- “FOMC day means only the announcement time matters.” Statements, projections, press conferences, and later repricing can create separate windows.
- “The implied move is a guaranteed boundary.” It is a quote-dependent heuristic, not a hard limit.
- “Expiration day is the only operational deadline.” Last trading and broker exercise cutoffs may differ.
- “A hedged spread has no event risk.” Gaps, skew changes, liquidity, early assignment, and leg mismatch remain.
- “Ignoring an event is the same as choosing not to trade it.” Unreviewed exposure is still exposure.

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## Related topics

- [Implied volatility](/options/implied-volatility/)
- [Assignment risk](/options/assignment-risk/)
- [Theta](/options/theta/)
- [Vega](/options/vega/)

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## Primary sources

- [SEC: EDGAR Search](https://www.sec.gov/edgar/search/)
- [Federal Reserve: FOMC Calendars](https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomccalendars.htm)
- [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Release Calendar](https://www.bls.gov/schedule/)
- [Nasdaq: Dividend Calendar](https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/dividends)
- [OCC: Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options](https://www.theocc.com/company-information/documents-and-archives/options-disclosure-document)