Chapter 04 · Section 4.1
Open Interest- Definition 2
The definition of open interest is the number of contracts outstanding at a specified point in time. What does that mean more precisely?
a) The total of open positions.
b) The total of long positions.
c) The total of short positions.
d) b and c
If someone has a long position on an option or futures market, someone else must have a short position.
For one contract outstanding there are two open positions: one long and one short.