If you purchase an option, you have the right to exercise it (with an American style option as most equities are) at any time in the expiration cycle.

FORBES: Pinning The $500 Tail On The Apple

In his remarks while en route to Israel, Hagel repeatedly emphasized Israel's right of self-defense and stressed that military force by implication, Israeli or American remains an option of last resort.

NPR: Pentagon Chief Stresses Israel's Right To Hit Iran

And although U.S. officicals have led calls for an end to the conflict, Plesch suggests that a prolonged conflict in Syria might not be the "worst option" from an Israeli or American militarist point of view, because neutralizing Syria would have the effect of isolating Hezbollah, and to a degree Hamas, from Iran, an ally of Damascus.

CNN: Syria: As al-Assad's grip loosens, what could come next?

The monetary authority, says Mr Miller, should sell convertible bonds which, if denominated in Hong Kong dollars, carry an option for the holder to convert into American dollars at the set rate.

ECONOMIST: The Hong Kong dollar: Off the peg? | The

But Gen Allen said that the idea of no American military presence in the country was not an option, and that he had not even been asked to look at its feasibility.

BBC: Afghan Isaf commander John Allen sees 'road to winning'

Attending a top American business school is a still an extremely promising investment in your future and will remain the best option for many MBA students for decades to come, but it is certainly also worth exploring institutions outside the United States.

FORBES: The Rise of the International MBA

Growing organically is not an option, because it does not have enough traffic of its own to load on to any American networks it might build.

ECONOMIST: The world beyond Deutsche Telekom | The