CBOE Futures Exchange Sets New High In Open Interest - Surpasses 10,000 Contracts For The First Time

The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) announced today that at the end of trading on Friday, October 8, open interest stood at 10,314 contracts; a new high and the first time that open interest has surpassed the 10,000-contract mark.CFE, which launched on March 26, 2004, is a new, all-electronic futures exchange offering futures on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), CBOE S&P 500 Three-Month Variance (VT) and beginning Monday, October 18, futures on the newly created CBOE China Index (CX).

VIX futures (ticker symbol VX) are based on the CBOE Volatility Index, which was created by CBOE in 1993 and quickly became the benchmark index of market sentiment.Derived from real-time Standard & Poor's 500 Index option (SPX) prices, VIX is designed to reflect investors' consensus view of expected stock market volatility over the next 30 days.

Variance Futures (ticker symbol VT), which began trading on May 18, are exchange-traded futures based on the realized variance of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index over a three-month period.

CBOE China Index futures (ticker symbol CX) are exchange-traded contracts based on an equal-dollar weighted index composed of sixteen American Depository Receipts, New York Registered Shares or NYSE Global Shares, which are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, or the American Stock Exchange.The sixteen companies that comprise the new index are:Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (ACH), China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (LFC), China Telecom Corp. Ltd. (CHA), Chinadotcom Corp. (CHINA), China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. (CHL), China Unicom Ltd. (CHU), CNOOC Ltd. (CEO), China Yuchai International Ltd. (CYD), Nam Tai Electronics, Inc. (NTE), Netease.com, Inc. (NTES), PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR), Sina Corporation (SINA), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMI), China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP), Sohu.com Inc. (SOHU), and UTStarcom Inc. (UTSI).

CFE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated, is a new, all-electronic exchange, using CBOEdirect as the trading platform.CFE trades are cleared by the triple-A rated Options Clearing Corporation (OCC).More information on CFE and VIX futures, including contract specifications, can be found at http://www.cboe.com/VIX or http://www.cboe.com/CFE.