Equity options volume also reached a new record with 6,279,101 contracts, surpassing the previous record of 6,224,906 contracts set on April 18, 2001.
"The growth in the options market has been phenomenal in 2004. In just two weeks the industry has set all new records for weekly and daily options volume, and is well on its way to a record trading month," said Wayne P. Luthringshausen, Chairman and CEO of OCC.
Year-to-date average daily total options volume at OCC is 5,764,727 contracts compared to 3,602,614 contracts in 2003, which was a record trading year for the industry.
OCC Background OCC, founded in 1973, is the largest clearing organization in the world for options and was the first clearing house to receive a 'AAA' credit rating from Standard & Poor's Corporation. In 2003, OCC's average daily options volume was 3.6 million contracts and average daily premium settlements were $1.1 billion. Operating under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, OCC is jointly owned by the American Stock Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, International Securities Exchange, Pacific Exchange and Philadelphia Stock Exchange. More information about OCC is available through its Web site at www.optionsclearing.com.
