Kansas City Board of Trade seeks to split ISDEX, Internet stock index contract

The board of directors of the Kansas City Board of Trade today has approved a split in the exchange's ISDEX, Internet stock index contract from its current value of $100 times the futures price to $25 times the futures price. Since the KCBT began working on an ISDEX futures contract, the index has grown from 170.00 to as much as 700.00 (it currently is about 560.00). Splitting the contract into fourths with a minimum price fluctuation of .25 index points ($6.25) was determined by the ISDEX Contract Committee to be a size more suitable for smaller investors. Using current values, the contract size would drop from about $56,000 to $14,000. "The Kansas City Board of Trade consistently strives for ways to enhance its products to best meet customer needs," said Michael Braude, KCBT President. "With this change, we are offering smaller investors the opportunity to hedge or speculate in the Internet sector." The proposal to split the index is being submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission pursuant to their 45-day fast track provisions. Pending approval by CFTC, the effective date of the split will be Monday, Sept. 20, 1999. This is the first business day following the expiration of the September 1999 ISDEX futures contract. Therefore, any open ISDEX futures and futures option contracts after the expiration of the September 1999 futures contract (Friday, Sept. 17, 1999) will be quadrupled as of the opening on Monday, Sept. 20. The Kansas City Board of Trade launched trade in the ISDEX on June 1 of this year. For more information about the ISDEX or a listing of the 50 component stocks, visit the KCBT web site at http://www.kcbt.com.