August Volume Of 41.2m Is Busiest Month In CBOE History - Numerous Volume Records Set, Including Total Monthly Index Volume

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced today that August trading volume at CBOE was 41,245,104 contracts, setting a new CBOE all-time trading record for total monthly volume, surpassing the previous record of 40,713,355 contract traded in April 2005. The 41.2 million contracts traded in August 2005 was 53% higher than the 26,894,775 contracts traded in August 2004. Additionally, CBOE's August volume in index options was up 56% over August 2004, and the 17,789,760 contracts traded set a new all-time record for total monthly index option volume, besting the previous high of 17,118,799 contracts from April 2005.

Exchange Volume, August 2005:
Total Volume
41,245,104 contracts
+53% vs year-ago (August 04)

Average Daily Volume
1,793,265 contracts
+47% vs year-ago (August 04)

Year-To-Date Volume
293,784,827 contracts
+25% vs YTD 2004

Open Interest
170,289,128 contracts
+21% vs year-ago (August 04)

August highlights at CBOE included:

Numerous volume records were set in August, including:

S&P 500 Index (SPX) options, single day:759,149 SPX contracts, August 19, 2005
S&P 500 Index (SPX) options, monthly:6,612,709 contracts
SPDRs options (SPY), monthly: 1,645,478 contracts
iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM) options, monthly: 1,803,991 contracts
Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) options, monthly: 609,454 contracts
Mini-Nasdaq-100 Index (MNX) options, monthly:757,291 contracts

Total CBOE volume on Friday, August 19th of 2,770,602 contracts was the sixth busiest single trading day in CBOE history.Seven of the top ten busiest trading days in CBOE history have occurred in 2005.

Volume in stock option classes rose 52% over August 2004 as 23.5 million contracts were traded. The top five stock option classes at CBOE during August were:Microsoft Corp. (MSFT); Time Warner, Inc. (TWX); Google Inc. (GOOG); Pfizer, Inc. (PFE); and General Motors Corporation (GM).

During August, CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) volume totaled 19,083 contracts traded, a rise of 125% over July 2005. At the end of August, open interest stood at 13,737 contracts. CFE set two new volume records in August: monthly volume of 1,590 contracts traded in CBOE S&P 500 Three-Month Variance futures (VT) and monthly volume of 1,629 contracts traded in CBOE DJIA Volatility Index (VXD) futures (DV).

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