Two CBOE Seats Traded Today At Record Prices; Last Sale For $2.5 Million Is All-Time High

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced two CBOE seats, or memberships, traded for new all-time highs today. This morning, a seat traded for a price of $2,445,000 and this afternoon, a second CBOE seat traded for a price of $2,500,000. Both trades topped the previous high of $2,400,000 for a CBOE seat, which was set on April 30, 2007.

The first sale of 2007 was at a price of $1.8 million on January 10th. To date, a total of 45 CBOE seats have traded in 2007.During 2006, the highest price paid for a CBOE seat was $1,775,000 on December 6th. The lowest price paid was $850,000 on January 30, 2006, and the last sale of the year was on December 27th for $1,750,000. A total of 111 seats changed hands in 2006.

CBOE's Membership Department facilitates the purchase and sale of seats using an auction method in which bids and offers from interested parties are submitted to the Exchange. When a bid matches an offer, a sale is made.