CBOE To Launch New Mini-SPX (XSP) And S&P 100 (XEO) Weeklys On Friday, March 24 - New Short Term Options On S&P 500 And S&P 100 Indexes

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced that it will launch short-term, "Weekly" options on the Mini-SPX (XSP) and the S&P 100 Index (XEO) on Friday, March 24, 2006. CBOE broke new ground in October 2005, when it introduced the Weekly concept with the launch of one-week options on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and S&P 100 Index (OEX). Strong volume in both contracts has proven the popularity of the idea, prompting CBOE to expand the product line to include Weeklys on two more of its top Index products.

Average daily volume in OEX and SPX Weeklys combined has grown to over 4,000 contracts per day since their launch in October.Volume in OEX and SPX Weeklys for the month of February totaled 58,282 contracts and 65,641 contracts in January.

The Mini-SPX (XSP) is a smaller sized, S&P 500 Index contract (1/10th the value of the S&P 500 Index) traded on the CBOE Hybrid Trading System. XEO options are S&P 100 Index options with European-style exercise (OEX options are S&P 100 Index options with American-style exercise).

Weeklys were created by CBOE to provide investors with an efficient means to trade options around specific time periods or certain news or events -- such as economic data announcements. CBOE's one-week options are listed on a Friday and expire the following Friday, as opposed to traditional options which have a life of months or years.

In general, Weeklys have the same contract specifications as standard options, except for the time to expiration, and offer the same continuous, two-sided quotes as standard options. SPX and XSP Weeklys are European-style exercise with Friday A.M. settlement (last day of trading is Thursday). OEX and XEO Weeklys are American-style exercise and European-style exercise, respectively, with Friday P.M. settlement (last day of trading is Friday).

New series are listed each Friday, expiring the following Friday, except that no new Weeklys are listed that would expire during the expiration week for standard options (the third Friday of each month).Ticker symbols for Weeklys differ from the traditional options contract symbols, with letters identifying the Weekly cycle, (for example SPX Weeklys for the first week of the month are JXA, JXB for the second week, etc.). There are no position or exercise limits; however, reporting requirements apply. Please visit www.cboe.com/Weeklys for information.

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, visit the CBOE website at: http://www.cboe.com/