CBOE Futures Exchange Experiences Busiest January Ever, Trading Volume Up 4% Over 2011

CHICAGO, Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) today announced that trading volume during January 2012 totaled 811,283 contracts, an increase of four percent from the 778,157 contracts traded in January 2011.  This was the busiest January in CFE history and it ranks as the tenth most-active trading month ever at the exchange.  Average daily volume (ADV) at CFE during January 2012 was 40,564 contracts, also up four percent from the 38,908 contracts traded per day a year ago.  January 2012 marked the twenty-eighth consecutive month that CFE monthly volume posted a year-over-year gain.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100707/CBOELOGO-b)

When comparing trading activity in January to the previous month, CFE total monthly volume rose by 25 percent from the 648,594 total contracts and average daily volume gained 31 percent from the 30,885 contracts per day during December 2011.       

VIX Futures

In January 2012, CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) futures volume totaled 808,784 contracts traded, up four percent from the year ago volume of 777,366 contracts traded and an increase of 25 percent from the 648,118 contracts traded in December 2011.  For the month, average daily volume in VIX futures was 40,439 contracts, compared with 38,868 contracts per day a year ago and the ADV of 30,863 contracts in the previous month.      

New Products

On Monday, January 9, CFE began trading security futures on the CBOE Emerging Markets ETF Volatility Index (Index ticker: VXEEM; futures symbol: VXEM). The VXEEM Index reflects the implied volatility of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index exchange-traded fund (ETF) (ticker: EEM). In addition to hedging emerging markets volatility exposure or making direct plays on emerging markets volatility, VXEM security futures – in conjunction with other volatility products – may allow market participants to trade cross-index or cross-asset volatility.  In its first 17 trading days, a total of 1,956 VXEM security futures traded. 

In addition, tomorrow, February 2, CFE will launch futures trading on the Radar Logic 25-Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) RPX Composite Index (futures symbol: RPXCP). The index tracks U.S. residential housing values as a whole.  And, unlike, other housing price indicators, Radar Logic's real estate index values are published daily (versus monthly or quarterly) and include all types of home-sale closings.  Radar Logic, with which CFE entered into a licensing agreement in 2011, is a real estate data and analytics company that calculates residential property indexes on the U.S. housing market as a whole, on four U.S. geographical regions and on 25 individual U.S. metropolitan areas.  RPXCP futures are the first of several Radar Logic 28-Day Real Estate indexes on which CFE plans to offer futures contracts.

About CFE                 

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 the CBOE Emerging Markets ETF Volatility Index (VXEM).

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 is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and all trades are cleared by the OCC.  More information on CFE and its products, including contract specifications, can be found at: http://cfe.cboe.com/.  

CBOE-EF

CBOE®, Chicago Board Options Exchange®, CFE®, CBOE Volatility Index® and VIX® are registered trademarks, and CBOE Futures ExchangeSM, GVZSM, VOWSM, VXEMSM and WeeklysSM 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 and CFE.  All other trademarks and servicemarks are the property of their respective owners.  

SOURCE CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC