April is Second-busiest Month All-time at CBOE Futures Exchange,

CHICAGO, May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) today announced that trading volume during April 2011 totaled 834,892 contracts, which ranks as the second busiest month all-time to-date at CFE.  April 2011 volume exceeded the 296,541 contracts traded in April 2010 by 182 percent.   When compared to the record trading in March, when volume surpassed the one-million-contract milestone (1,066,367 contracts) for the first time ever, April's trading activity declined by 22 percent.    

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April 2011 was the most active month of April on record at CFE and marked the nineteenth consecutive month in which total volume registered an increase when comparing year-over-year trading activity. The five busiest months in CFE history include the first four months of 2011:      

1. March 2011:  1,066,367 contracts
2. April 2011:  834,892 contracts
3. February 2011:  789,734 contracts
4. January 2011:  778,157 contracts
5. November 2010: 751,481 contracts

Average daily volume (ADV) of 41,744 contracts during April 2011 surpassed the April 2010 ADV of 14,121 contracts by 196 percent.  When compared to the record 46,363 contracts traded per day during March 2011, ADV in April fell 10 percent.  April was the third consecutive month in which CFE daily volume averaged over 40,000 contracts, the first time this has ever occurred at CFE.    

April 2011 volume in VIX futures, based on the CBOE Volatility Index (ticker VX), totaled 834,110 contracts, topping the 295,483 contracts traded in April 2010 by 182 percent, but off 22 percent from the record 1,065,374 contracts in March 2011.  April was the second-busiest month all-time for VIX futures trading at CFE, trailing only March 2011 – which was the first month ever for VIX futures volume to surpass the one-million-contract milestone.  

Average daily volume in VIX futures was 41,706 contracts during April 2011, 196 percent over the ADV of 14,070 contracts per day in April 2010, but down 10 percent from the record 46,320 contracts traded per day during March 2011.  

CFE currently offers futures on six different contracts, including: the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Weekly options on VIX futures (VOW), CBOE mini-VIX (VM), CBOE Gold ETF Volatility Index (GVZ), CBOE S&P 500 3-Month Variance (VT) and CBOE S&P 500 12-Month Variance (VA).  

CFE, a wholly owned subsidiary of CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE), offers an all-electronic, open-access market model, with traders providing liquidity and making markets.  CFE trades are cleared by the AAA-rated Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). CBOE Futures Exchange is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).  

More information on CFE and its products, including contract specifications, can be found at: http://cfe.cboe.com/.  

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CBOE®, Chicago Board Options Exchange®, CFE®, CBOE Volatility Index® and VIX® are registered trademarks, and CBOE Futures Exchange(SM) , GVZ(SM) and Weeklys(SM) are servicemarks of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (CBOE).  Standard & Poor's®, S&P® and S&P 500® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services, LLC,. and have been licensed for use by CBOE.  

SOURCE CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC