E-mini NASDAQ-100 Volume Continues Strong Growth
Average Daily Volume from Launch through May 2004
“CME is especially proud of our accomplishment in pioneering the E-mini futures concept,” said CME Chairman Terry Duffy. “By partnering with leading organizations like The NASDAQ Stock Market, CME revolutionized stock index futures trading by providing an innovative financial tool designed to fit the investing needs of individual investors and smaller institutions. We also expanded the reach and liquidity of our stock index complex by providing risk management and investment benefits to a whole new market segment.”
“CME has enjoyed a longstanding and rewarding partnership with NASDAQ,” said Craig Donohue, CME’s Chief Executive Officer. “In April 1996, we launched our full-size NASDAQ-100 futures contract, which traded an average of 2,000 contracts per day its first year and is now averaging over 18,000 contracts per day. A little over three years later, we added the E-mini NASDAQ-100 futures contract, which has grown from 2,500 contracts per day during its first full week of trading in 1999 to over 310,000 per day in 2004, for a compounded annual growth rate of 162 percent per year. Last October, we further extended our partnership with NASDAQ and introduced new E-mini NASDAQ Composite Index futures.”
“The tremendous performance of the CME’s E-mini NASDAQ-100 futures over the past five years is testament to the popularity of the NASDAQ-100 Index,” said NASDAQ Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer John Jacobs. “NASDAQ’s partnership with the CME has produced new opportunities for investors, and we look forward to maintaining this productive relationship for years to come.” The NASDAQ-100 Index is a modified capitalization-weighted index based on the 100 largest non-financial stocks traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market. Sized at $20 times the NASDAQ- 100 Index price, the underlying value of CME’s E-Mini NASDAQ-100 futures is one-fifth that of its standard NASDAQ-100 futures contract. At recent market levels, the E-mini NASDAQ-100 futures contract is valued at approximately $30,000. CME’s standard NASDAQ 100 futures contract has an underlying value of $100 times the index, currently valued at approximately $150,000.
CME’s E-mini NASDAQ-100 futures contracts require one fifth the performance bond or margin of the standard futures contract, enabling investors to control a large basket of stocks for a fraction of the money required to buy the individual stocks.
NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,300 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. It is home to category-defining companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks. Approximately 51% of NASDAQ-listed shares traded are reported to NASDAQ systems. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at www.NASDAQ.com or the NASDAQ NewsroomSM at www.NASDAQnews.com.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is the largest futures exchange in the United States. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX® electronic trading platform. CME offers futures and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moved about $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments in the first quarter of 2004 and managed $38.1 billion in collateral deposits at March 31, 2004. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000® Index.
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, which can be obtained at its Web site at www.sec.gov. CME undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME, the globe logo and GLOBEX are registered trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. E-mini is a trademark of CME. NASDAQ-100, and other trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks that are not proprietary to Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. are the property of their respective owners, and are used herein under license. Further information about CME and its products is available on the CME Web site at www.cme.com.
