S&P 500 Index Options (SPX) Set New Weekly Volume Record At CBOE - Over 500,000 SPX Contracts Traded Friday, May 20th, 2.0M Contracts Traded For The Week Of May 16 - 20

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced today that trading volume at CBOE in Standard & Poor's 500 Index options (SPX) for the week of May 16 - 20 was 2,081,537 contracts, the busiest week ever for SPX trading.On Friday May 20, 503,528 SPX contracts traded at CBOE, short of the daily record setting volume of 540,850 contracts traded on November 20, 1997.Open interest in SPX options stood at 6,447,732 contracts at the close of trading on Friday.

The previous record for weekly SPX trading volume occurred during the week ending April 15, 2005, which was the busiest week ever at CBOE, when a reported 1,768,000 SPX contracts traded.

Through the end of April, year-to-date trading volume in SPX options at CBOE totaled 20,812,369 contracts, with average daily volume of 253,809 contracts, 41% ahead of last year's pace. Open interest stood at 6,921,123 contracts at the end of April; 38% higher than end of April 2004.S&P 500 Index options are the most actively traded index option contract at CBOE.

CBOE lists options on 44 indexes and 54 exchange traded funds, including: Options on the Dow (DJX), Nasdaq-100 Indexes (NDX and MNX), S&P 100 Indexes (OEX and XEO), S&P 500 Depositary Receipts (SPY), or Spiders, Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock (QQQQ), and DIAMONDS.