ameritrade offers a few quick flip-through courses (slideshows with quizzes basically) on everything from options to anything else. ‘exercise’ means you are utilizing your right to either buy the stock (if you own a call option) or sell (put option), in other words, converting them into tangible stock. i think you can buy and sell options, or exercise them. most have expiration dates (when you lose everything), but i never thought about when a company gives you stock options… which probably don’t expire or have some other loophole. maybe they’re different altogether. good post on the billfold though.