CME Reports Record Day For Electronic Live Cattle Futures Traded

CME, the largest U.S. futures exchange, saw its biggest trading day ever for live cattle futures on CME® Globex® with a record 975 contracts traded on Tuesday, February 8. This broke the prior day’s record of 725 futures contacts traded electronically, and represented about 5 percent of total live cattle future volume. Open interest in total live cattle futures also set a record of 149,847 positions. Open interest reflects the total number of contracts that have not yet been offset or fulfilled for delivery.

Overall volume in the exchange’s E-Livestock program, which started in 2002, was 1,111 contracts, the strongest trading day since a market maker program was launched on Jan. 3, 2005, and the second-highest trading day ever. In addition to live cattle, feeder cattle and lean hog futures also trade side-by-side with the CME livestock products traded on the floor.

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 CME® Globex® electronic trading platform and on its trading floor. 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 2004 and managed $44.1 billion in collateral deposits as of Dec. 31, 2004, including $3.1 billion in deposits for non-CME products. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000® Index.