A January For The Record Books At CBOE - Several Trading Records Established During Busiest January In Exchange History

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), the world's largest options exchange, announced today that volume at CBOE during January set a record for the month of January as 34,102,677 contracts traded, surpassing the previous high of 30,163,186 contracts traded in January 2001. January's average daily volume of 1,705,134 contracts established a new CBOE record for highest monthly average daily volume in its history, besting the previous total of 1,664,568 contracts in September 2001. Additionally, January 2004's volume ranked as the second-busiest month in CBOE history, trailing only the March 2000 total of 35,176,764 contracts.

Exchange Volume, January 2004
Total Volume
34,102,677 contracts
+54% vs year-ago (Jan 03)
+25% vs previous month (Dec 03)

Average Daily Volume
1,705,134 contracts
+62% vs year-ago (Jan 03)
+38% vs previous month (Dec 03)

Open Interest
107,707,110 contracts
+66% vs year-ago (Jan 03)
-15% vs previous month (Dec 03)

January volume records at CBOE included:
During the month of January, CBOE experienced two of the top ten most-active trading days in its history -- including the #4 all-time day on January 16 (2,631,563 contracts) and the #7 all-time day on January 15 (2,296,450 contracts), as well as six of the top thirty most-active trading days and ten of the top fifty most-active trading days in CBOE history.

A new monthly volume record was established in S&P 500 Index (SPX) options as January 2004 volume totaled 4,075,164 contracts, an increase of 35% over the January 2003 total. January's SPX volume surpassed the previous record of 3,859,734 contracts set in July 2002.

Volume in options on the Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock (QQQ) also set a new monthly record as January 2004 volume totaled 2,900,180 contracts, an increase of 40% over the January 2003 total, and exceeding the old record of 2,813,837 contracts set in March 2003.

Options on the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM) also set a monthly volume record in January 2004 as 259,555 contracts traded, eclipsing the previous record of 194,146 contracts from December 2003.

CBOE, regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is the creator of listed options, and the world's largest options marketplace. For additional information about the CBOE and its products, access the CBOE website at http://www.cboe.com/.