CBOE Holdings Reports March 2011 Trading Volumes:

CHICAGO, April 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) today announced that March trading volume for options on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and C2 Options Exchange (C2), the company's alternative all-electronic market, combined, totaled 111.5 million contracts, an average daily volume (ADV) of 4.8 million contracts.  Futures trading on CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) in March set a new all-time monthly volume record for the third straight month, with more than one million contracts changing hands for the first time.  

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CBOE Options Trading:

• CBOE's March ADV of 4.67 million contracts was a three-percent increase from 4.54 million contracts per day in March 2010 and a four-percent decrease from February 2011 ADV of 4.86 million contracts.  Year-to-date through March, ADV rose seven percent over the same period in 2010.
• CBOE index options – March 2011 index options ADV was 1.27 million contracts, up 16 percent from 1.09 million contracts ADV in March 2010 and up 15 percent from ADV of 1.11 million contracts in February 2011.  
• CBOE equity options – March 2011 equity options ADV was 2.15 million contracts, down 12 percent from 2.44 million contracts ADV in March 2010 and down 17 percent from 2.59 million contracts ADV in February 2011.
• CBOE ETF options – March 2011 ETF options ADV was 1.25 million contracts, up 25 percent from one million contracts ADV in March 2010 and up eight percent from 1.16 million contracts ADV in February 2011.
• CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) options – March 2011 volume established an all-time monthly record of 10.67 million contracts, a record ADV of 463,793 contracts. March volume topped the previous record set in January 2011 when 7.92 million VIX options contracts changed hands, an ADV of 396,035 contracts. On March 15, VIX options posted a record daily volume of 1.15 million contracts, beating the previous record of 716,815 contracts traded on December 3, 2009.
• The top five most actively traded index and ETF options at CBOE during March were the S&P 500 Index (SPX), Standard and Poor's Depositary Receipts (SPY), CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), iShares Trust Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM) and PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ).
• The top five most actively traded equity options at CBOE during March were Citigroup (C), Apple (AAPL), Bank of America (BAC), Cisco Systems (CSCO), and Ford Motor Company (F).

Expanded March volume information for CBOE index and ETF options is available at: www.cboe.com/data/monthlyvolume.aspx.

CBOE Market Share: CBOE's market share of total U.S. options industry volume in March was 25.8 percent, down  0.2 of a percentage point from February 2011 and 4.0 percentage points from March 2010.  If the volume from dividend trades was excluded from CBOE's data for March 2011, the Exchange's total market share for March would increase to 26.7 percent from 25.8 percent, an increase of 0.9 market share points. Exclusion of dividend trades from total industry volume data presents a more relevant measure of the relative trends in the options business. Market share figures by type of options product (excluding dividend trades) are shown below.

CBOE March Market Share by Product:

• Index options – CBOE's market share was 94.3 percent, down 0.2 of a percentage point from February 2011 and up 2.4 percentage points from March 2010.
• Equity options – CBOE's market share was 21.7 percent, down 0.7 of a percentage point from February 2011 and down 3.6 percentage points from March 2010.
• ETF options – CBOE's market share was 18.2 percent, down 1.4 percentage points from February 2011 and down 4.6 percentage points from March 2010.

C2 Trading Volume and Market Share:

In March, C2 trading volume totaled a record 4.13 million contracts, and ADV rose to 179,422 contracts, up 21 percent from February 2011 ADV of nearly 148,771 contracts.  ADV for ETF options at C2 was up 42 percent from February 2011, and equity options ADV was unchanged.

C2 Market Share:  C2's market share of total U.S. options industry volume in March was one percent, consistent with market share in February 2011.

CFE Futures Trading:

• March marked the first month ever in which CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) futures exceeded the one-million-contract milestone.
• VIX futures volume in March established a new monthly record with 1.07 million contracts traded, surpassing March 2010 volume of 216,800 contracts by 391 percent and February 2011 volume of just under 788,908 contracts by 35 percent. VIX futures ADV in March was a record 46,320 contracts versus ADV of 9,426 contracts in March 2010 and 41,521 contracts in February 2011.  
• VIX futures posted the top three most active single trading days in CFE history during March:  97,337 contracts on March 15; 97,113 contracts on March 16; and 77,556 contracts on March 11.    
• March also marked the eighteenth consecutive month of year-over-year volume increases for VIX futures.

CBOE Holdings Average Transaction Fee Per Contract:

The following represents average transaction fee per contract based on a three-month rolling average, reported on a one-month lag.  The average transaction fee per contract represents total transaction fees for CBOE, C2, and CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) recognized for the period divided by total contracts traded during the period.  Average transaction fees per contract can be affected by various factors, including exchange fee rates, volume-based discounts and transaction mix by contract type and product type.

About CBOE Holdings

CBOE Holdings, Inc. is the holding company for Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE), C2 Options Exchange (C2) and other subsidiaries.  CBOE, the largest U.S. options exchange and creator of listed options, continues to set the bar for options trading through product innovation, trading technology and investor education. CBOE offers equity, index and ETF options, including proprietary products, such as S&P 500 options (SPX), the most active U.S. index option, and options on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX). Other products engineered by CBOE include equity options, security index options, LEAPS options, FLEX options and benchmark products such as the CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (BXM). CBOE's Hybrid Trading System incorporates electronic and open-outcry trading, enabling customers to choose their trading method. CBOE's Hybrid is powered by CBOEdirect, a proprietary, state-of-the-art electronic platform that also supports C2 Options Exchange (C2), CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE), CBOE Stock Exchange (CBSX) and OneChicago. CBOE is home to the world-renowned Options Institute and www.cboe.com, named "Best of the Web" for options information and education.

CBOE is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with all trades cleared by the AAA-rated Options Clearing Corporation (OCC).

CBOE®, Chicago Board Options Exchange® , CBSX® , CBOE Stock Exchange®, CFE®, CBOEdirect®, FLEX®, Hybrid®, LEAPS®, CBOE Volatility Index® and VIX® are registered trademarks, and BuyWriteSM, BXMSM, C2SM, C2 Options Exchange, IncorporatedSM, CBOE Futures ExchangeSM , SPXSM and The Options Institute SM are servicemarks of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated. Standard & Poor's® , S&P® , S&P 500® , Standard and Poor's Depositary Receipts®, and SPDR® are registered trademarks of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. and have been licensed for use by Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated. All other trademarks and servicemarks are the property of their respective owners.

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SOURCE CBOE Holdings, Inc.