A single-day volume record in the popular Nasdaq-100 Index®, the MNXSM, was established on August 16, when 86,163 contracts traded. The popular index product is based on one-tenth of the Nasdaq-100, and was launched on August 14, 2000, as an exclusive CBOE product. The MNX continued to post impressive figures with 538,405 contracts (258,251 calls and 280,154 puts) traded in August. MNX options had an average daily volume of 23,409 contracts in August. Open interest in MNX stood at 810,731 contracts at the end of August.
Open interest in all CBOE listed options stood at 71,040,982 contracts at month's end, an increase of 43% over the end of August last year, when open interest stood at 49,732,533 contracts. Total volume at CBOE decreased by nearly 7% to 22,307,744 contracts (12,674,416 calls and 9,633,328 puts) from 23,885,331 contracts in August 2000. In August, CBOE exchange-wide average daily volume for the month was 969,902 contracts.
CBOE's most heavily traded product, options on the Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking StockSM (QQQ), continued its five-month run as the most actively traded index option at CBOE. QQQ volume reached 2,144,833 contracts (1,314,069 calls and 830,764 puts) for the month of August. The success of the QQQ is reflected in the total index option volume.
Options on the Dow Jones Industrial AverageSM (DJX) posted strong gains at CBOE in August. DJX volume increased 213% to 683,616 contracts, from 218,757 contracts in August 2000.
Trading in S&P 500® Index options (SPXTM) totaled 1,754,129 contracts (683,384 calls and 1,070,745 puts), an increase of 16% over August 2000 volume of 1,509,913 contracts. Trading in SPX LEAPS totaled 116,200 contracts in August, an increase of 201% over August 2000 volume of 38,642 contracts. Trading volume for the month of August in S&P 100® Index options (OEX®) was 766,879 contracts (366,432 calls and 400,447 puts). On July 23, CBOE launched the XEO, a new S&P 100® Index option with European-style exercise. In its first full month of trading, XEO volume totaled 28,367 contracts.
Stock option volume for the month of August totaled 15,999,782 contracts (9,677,828 calls and 6,321,954 puts), a decrease of 23% from August 2000's stock option volume of 20,883,813 contracts. Open interest in stock options stood at 63,736,661 contracts (41,225,073 calls and 22,511,588 puts) at the end of August, an increase of 39% over the close of August 2000 when open interest stood at 45,809,488 contracts.
Volume in equity LEAPSTM (Long-Term Equity AnticiPation Securities®) continued to increase in August, as investors employed longer-term options in response to market uncertainty. Total volume in equity LEAPS totaled 1,097,365 contracts, an 11% increase over August 2000 volume of 993,367 contracts.
CBOE, the world's largest options marketplace and the creator of listed options, is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For additional information about the CBOE and its products, access the CBOE site on the World Wide Web at http://www.cboe.com.
