Thursday's record exceeded the prior record for electronically traded CME Eurodollar options of 292,659, set on April 27, 2005, which represented 20 percent of the total CME Eurodollar options volume traded that day. Month-to- date average daily volume (ADV) in electronically traded CME Eurodollar options is 147,000 contracts compared to 30,000 for the same period in June 2005 and ADV of 66,000 contracts for May 2006.
Additionally, CME Clearing surpassed one billion trades cleared through June 15, a feat that it did not achieve until the third quarter in 2005. This is the third consecutive year the CME Clearing House, which clears all trading volume for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in addition to that of CME, exceeded one billion cleared trades.
Yesterday also marked the beginning the qualifying stage of a new market making program for electronic CME Eurodollar options, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 1, 2006. The innovative program is open to all interested parties who wish to commit to providing liquidity on the CME Globex(R) electronic trading platform. From June 15 through Sept. 15, 2006, CME will monitor and rank the performance of all interested parties and select the top 15 performers for inclusion in the program.
In addition to this program, CME recently introduced a pricing incentive program for members and lessees who trade CME Eurodollar options electronically. To be eligible for the program, 30 percent of the member's CME Eurodollar Options volume must be traded electronically.
Options on CME Eurodollar futures are the most actively traded, exchange- listed, interest rate options in the world. They are a risk management tool that provides the opportunity for market participants to limit losses while maintaining the possibility of profiting from favorable changes in futures prices. Options liquidity allows market participants to take advantage of their views on the direction of U.S. interest rates.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is the world's largest and most diverse financial exchange. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on CME Globex electronic trading platform and on its trading floors. CME offers futures and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange managed $47.0 billion in collateral deposits at March 31, 2006, including $3.8 billion in deposits for non-CME products. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000(R) Index.
