CBOE July Volume Rises 28% - New Monthly Trading Records Set In Nasdaq And Russell Products

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced today that July trading volume at CBOE was 35,987,001 contracts, 28% higher than the 28,231,303 contracts traded in July 2004. Year-to-date, CBOE's 2005 total volume of 252.5 million contracts is 21% ahead of 2004's YTD volume of 208.9 million contracts. Additionally, two new all-time monthly volume records were set at CBOE during July. In options on the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), 594,563 contracts traded, surpassing the previous record of 559,122 contracts traded in May 2005; and in options on the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM), 1,531,972 contracts traded, besting the old high mark of 1,418,918 contracts from April 2005.

Exchange Volume, July 2005:

Total Volume
35,987,001 contracts
+28% vs year-ago (July 04)

Average Daily Volume
1,799,350 contracts
+34% vs year-ago (July 04)

Year-To-Date Volume
252,539,723 contracts
+21% vs YTD 2004

Open Interest
162,600,786 contracts
+18% vs year-ago (July 04)

July highlights at CBOE included:

On Thursday, July 14, CBOE experienced the sixth-busiest single trading day in its history when 2,740,701 contracts traded.

Volume in stock option classes rose 19% over July 2004 as 21.4 million contracts were traded. The top five stock option classes at CBOE during July were: Google Inc. (GOOG); Microsoft Corp. (MSFT); Apple Computer, Inc. (AAPL); eBay, Inc. (EBAY); and General Motors Corporation (GM).

Volume in index options totaled 14.5 million contracts, an increase of 43% over year-ago levels. The top five index options at CBOE during July were: S&P 500 Index (SPX); Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock (QQQ); iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM), Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts/SPDRs (SPY); and S&P 100 Index (OEX).

On Wednesday, July 6, trading of options on the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM) set a new single-day trading record at CBOE when 303,001 contracts traded. Year-to-date, IWM average daily volume at CBOE is up 216% over 2004, at 54,604 contracts.

During July, CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) volume totaled 8,437 contracts traded, with an average daily volume of 422 contracts. At the end of July, open interest stood at 14,544 contracts, up 2% from the previous month.

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/