International Securities Exchange Reports Monthly Volume For March 2010

The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today reported average daily volume of 3.0 million contracts in March 2010.

Average daily trading volume for all options contracts decreased 32.6% to 3.0 million contracts in March as compared to 4.4 million contracts during the same period in 2009. Total options volume for the month decreased 29.6% to 68.2 million contracts from 96.8 million contracts in the same year-ago period.

On a year-to-date basis, average daily trading volume of all options decreased 17.8% to 3.3 million contracts traded. Total year-to-date options volume through March 2010 decreased 17.8% to 199.2 million contracts from 242.5 million contracts in the same period last year.

Total Options Volume (Equity, ETF, Index and FX Options)

	Current Month			Year-to-Date
(000s)	Mar-10	Mar-09	% Change	Mar-10	Mar-09	% Change
ISE Average Daily Volume	2,963.9	4,399.9	-32.6%	3,266.3	3,975.6	-17.8%
ISE Total Volume	68,169.3	96,796.9	-29.6%	199,245.0	242,511.6	-17.8%
Industry Average Daily Volume	15,261.1	15,729.0	-3.0%	15,163.9	14,103.5	7.5%
Market Share	19.4%	28.0%	(8.6) pts	21.5%	28.2%	(6.7) pts
Market Share: Customer	22.1%	30.8%	(8.7) pts	23.4%	30.1%	(6.7) pts
Market Share: Firm	17.1%	24.6%	(7.5) pts	18.7%	25.3%	(6.6) pts
Market Share: Market Maker	17.7%	26.6%	(8.9) pts	20.7%	27.5%	(6.8) pts

Equity and ETF Options Volume Statistics

	Current Month			Year-to-Date
(000s)	Mar-10	Mar-09	% Change	Mar-10	Mar-09	% Change
ISE Average Daily Volume	2,893.8	4,341.4	-33.3%	3,214.1	3,923.6	-18.1%
ISE Total Volume	66,556.3	95,510.1	-30.3%	196,058.9	239,338.4	-18.1%
Industry Average Daily Volume	14,071.4	14,648.0	-3.9%	13,975.5	13,124.8	6.5%
Market Share	20.6%	29.6%	(9.0) pts	23.0%	29.9%	(6.9) pts
Market Share: Customer	23.0%	32.5%	(9.5) pts	24.6%	31.8%	(7.2) pts
Market Share: Firm	19.3%	26.8%	(7.5) pts	20.9%	27.5%	(6.6) pts
Market Share: Market Maker	18.6%	28.1%	(9.5) pts	22.1%	29.1%	(7.0) pts

Index Options Volume Statistics

	Current Month			Year-to-Date
(000s)	Mar-10	Mar-09	% Change	Mar-10	Mar-09	% Change
ISE Average Daily Volume	69.3	56.3	23.1%	51.3	50.1	2.4%
ISE Total Volume	1,593.0	1,237.6	28.7%	3,127.8	3,054.8	2.4%
Industry Average Daily Volume	1,188.8	1,078.7	10.2%	1,187.5	976.8	21.6%
Market Share	5.8%	5.2%	0.6 pts	4.3%	5.1%	(0.8) pts

ISE FX Options® Volume Statistics

	Current Month			Year-to-Date
(000s)	Mar-10	Mar-09	% Change	Mar-10	Mar-09	% Change
ISE Average Daily Volume	0.9	2.2	-59.1%	1.0	1.9	-47.4%
ISE Total Volume	20.1	49.2	-59.1%	58.3	118.5	-50.8%

ISE's market share statistics continue to be negatively impacted by dividend trade strategies that are permitted based on a non-economic rationale. These trades temporarily inflate and distort trading volume and market share when transacted.

If the volume from dividend trades were excluded from ISE's data for March 2010, our market share in equity options would increase to 22.3% from 20.6%, an increase of 1.7 market share points. If volume from dividend trades were excluded from ISE's data in March 2009, our market share in equity options would increase to 30.0% from 29.6%. Exclusion of dividend trades from total industry volume data presents a more relevant measure of the relative trends in our business. For ISE's whitepaper on dividend trades and their impact on the options industry, please visit www.ise.com/dividendtrades.

Monthly Highlights

On March 9, 2010, ISE, E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation and The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced that financial industry pioneer William A. Porter will be honored by the OIC with the Joseph W. Sullivan Options Industry Achievement Award in recognition of his overall contributions to the options industry. William A. Porter is a co-founder and the first chairman of ISE and founder and chairman emeritus of E*TRADE. The award will be bestowed by the OIC at the 28th annual Options Industry Conference in Phoenix, Arizona on April 30, 2010.
On March 12, 2010, First Trust Advisors L.P. launched two new exchange traded funds (ETFs) based on ISE's newest proprietary sector indexes, the ISE Global CopperTM Index (Ticker: ISC) and the ISE Global PlatinumTM Index (Ticker: ORE). The two new ETFs are the First Trust ISE Global Copper Index Fund (Nasdaq: CU) and the First Trust ISE Global Platinum Index Fund (Nasdaq: PLTM).
On March 22, 2010, ISE announced the launch of enhanced risk management tools for its options exchange members connecting via FIX. ISE's members can now define hard risk management limits for their own connections and their sponsored access customers.
On March 29, 2010, ISE announced that effective April 1, 2010, it will introduce a modified maker/taker fee structure for options on the PowerShares QQQ Exchange Traded Fund (Nasdaq: QQQQ), Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC).
ISE traded more volume than any other options exchange in 794 of 2,220 issues in its listings.