Open Interest

Open interest (also known as open contracts or open commitments) refers to the total number of derivative contracts, like futures and options, that have not been settled in the immediately previous time period for a specific underlying security. A large open interest indicates more activity and liquidity for the contract.

For each buyer of a futures contract there must be a seller. From the time the buyer or seller opens the contract until the counter-party closes it, that contract is considered 'open'.

Read more about Open Interest:  Use of Open Interest in Technical Analysis, The Importance of Open Interest, Benefits of Monitoring Open Interest, Open Interest - A Confirming Indicator

Famous quotes containing the words open and/or interest:

    “The role of the writer is not simply to arrange Being according to his own lights; he must also serve as a medium to Being and remain open to its often unfathomable dictates. This is the only way the work can transcend its creator and radiate its meaning further than the author himself can see or perceive.”
    —Václav Havel (b. 1936)

    “The cohort that made up the population boom is now grown up; many are in fact middle- aged. They are one reason for the enormous current interest in such topics as child rearing and families. The articulate and highly educated children of the baby boom form a huge, literate market for books on various issues in parenting and child rearing, and, as time goes on, adult development, divorce, midlife crisis, old age, and of course, death.”
    —Joseph Featherstone (20th century)