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CBOT Options On Mini-Sized Dow(SM) Jones Futures Shatter Previous Open Interest And Volume Records

Date 06/10/2004

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) announced today that its options on mini-sized Dow Jones futures set new open interest and volume records on October 5, with open interest eclipsing the previous all-time high by 27 percent and volume surpassing the prior record by 100 percent.

Launched in February 2004, mini-sized Dow options open interest climbed to 78,775 contracts, which is the largest open interest of any purely electronically traded options-futures contract in the United States. Volume in mini-sized Dow options increased sharply to 21, 538 contracts, compared with the prior record of 10,772 contracts set on September 15.

CBOT President and CEO Bernard Dan, said, "The contract design of CBOT options on mini-sized Dow futures has been a key attraction for traders, and the product's liquidity and extremely tight bid-offer spread greatly enhance trading efficiency. Also contributing to the mini-sized Dow options' success is the superior options functionality of the CBOT's electronic platform, which provides market participants with the most dynamic and transparent electronic options trading environment available." Options on mini-sized Dow futures was the first CBOT options on futures product to trade exclusively on the exchange's superior electronic trading platform, e-cbot® powered by LIFFE CONNECT®. Since September 1, open interest in the contract has increased nearly 700 percent.

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