CBOE Leads The Way In Chicago Setting Volume Records In March

For the seventh consecutive month, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) was the busiest exchange in Chicago. Total volume at the CBOE reached a record setting 35,176,764 contracts (24,363,302 calls and 10,813,462 puts) in March, a 76% increase over year-ago levels and more than 5 million contracts higher than the previous record volume set in January 2000. Average daily volume was a record setting 1,529,425 contracts, beating the previous record of 1,505,578 contracts set in January 2000. CBOE established a new single-day trading record on March 16th when volume reached 2,336,415 contracts. Exchange-wide open interest at the end of March stood at 42,656,203 contracts (25,663,186 calls and 16,993,017 puts), an increase of 103% over the close of March 1999.

Stock option trading was also at record levels at CBOE during March, with 29,981,398 contracts (22,047,397 calls and 7,934,001 puts) trading, beating the previous record of 25,576,107 contracts set in January 2000. Average daily volume in stock options during March was a record 1,303,539 contracts, more than double the record-setting year-ago March level of 638,068 contracts per day. Open interest in stock options stood at 38,760,576 contracts at month's end, 125% higher than the close of March 1999.

Monthly volume in Nasdaq 100 Index® Options (NDX) rose to 212,564 contracts (82,010 calls and 130,554 puts), an increase of 100% over March 1999. Monthly trading in S&P 500® Index options (SPX) was also on the rise with 2,343,905 contracts (1,070,873 calls and 1,273,032 puts) changing hands for an increase of 13% over year-ago levels. Open interest in SPX stood at 1,908,927 contracts at month's end.

Trading volume for the month of March in S&P 100® Index options (OEX®) was 1,894,851 contracts (803,840 calls and 1,091,011 puts). Volume in Options on the Dow Jones Industrial AverageSM (DJX) was 514,871 contracts (286,238 calls and 228,633 puts). Average daily volume for the DJX was 22,386 contracts. Overall, total index option volume for March at CBOE was 5,187,940 contracts (2,313,312 calls and 2,874,628 puts), a decrease of 2.5% over year ago levels.

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.