Historic Year At NYBOT Adds More Record Numbers - World Sugar Futures Contract Shatters Open Interest Record

The New York Board of Trade® (NYBOT®) continues to roll out record numbers in 2005. Through the end of November, total futures and options volume for the month stood at 34,431,663 contracts, 18% ahead of the first eleven months of 2004 (29,282,370 contracts). There are also additional Year-To-Date (YTD) category increases in Currency Futures (49%), Index Options (28%), Total Futures (20%), Ag Futures (18%), Total Options (11%), and Ag Options (10%).

Additionally, on November 30, NYBOT’s largest market, Sugar No. 11sm futures, hit another historic open interest high with 504,174 contracts, surpassing the previous mark of 500,572 contracts set on November 29.

“We are very happy with our volume for the month of November,” said Joe O’Neill, NYBOT SVP of Marketing. “Our markets have never been busier in the 135-year history of our exchange, and all this business is proof that more and more people are turning to our markets to manage their risk exposure or diversify their investment goals.”

Some selected November 2005 (YTD) product volume increases include:

Sugar No. 11sm (symbol SB) futures volume was up 32%, and the options rose 12%. Sugar No. 14sm (symbol SE) futures also saw a 19% surge
Cotton No. 2sm (symbol CT) futures jumped 23%
Cocoa (symbol CC) options were up 22% and the futures rose 7%
Coffee C® (symbol KC) options are up 24%
Russell 1000® (symbol R) options increased 46%

The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) is New York’s original futures exchange, where the world trades food, fiber and financial products. For well over a century, the New York Board of Trade has provided reliability, integrity and security in a global marketplace for cocoa, coffee, cotton, ethanol, orange juice, pulp and sugar, as well as currency and index futures and options. Information about the New York Board of Trade can be found at www.nybot.com and www.nybotlive.com.