October Was Second Busiest Month Ever at CBOE Futures Exchange

CHICAGO, Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) today announced that October 2010 trading volume totaled 479,304 contracts, compared to 188,047 contracts during October 2009.  October was the second-busiest month in CFE history, trailing only the 481,650 contracts traded during May 2010, and marked the thirteenth consecutive month in which total volume registered an increase when comparing year-over-year trading activity.  October volume gained 24 percent from the 387,464 contracts that traded during September 2010.  

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Average daily volume (ADV) of 22,824 contracts during October exceeded the year-ago ADV of 8,548 contracts.  When compared to 18,450 contracts per day during September 2010, ADV in October rose 24 percent.    

CFE's year-to-date trading volume of 3,094,647 contracts is ahead of the 829,921 contracts for the same period in 2009.  Year-to-date ADV is 14,807 contracts, versus the 3,952 contracts per day in 2009.  

October volume in VIX futures, based on the CBOE Volatility Index (ticker VX), totaled 478,326 contracts traded, exceeding the 187,628 contracts in October 2009, and was 24 percent above the 386,969 contracts in September.  ADV in VIX futures during October was 22,777 contracts, compared to the 8,529 contracts per day a year ago and the 18,427 contracts per day from the previous month.    

In their first full month of trading, Weekly options on VIX futures totaled 115 contracts traded.  Weekly options on VIX futures – with American style expiration and physical settlement – are initially featuring four consecutive contracts with weekly expirations on Fridays, allowing investors to select a contract with either one, two, three or four weeks to expiration.  CFE adds a new contract when the near-term contract expires.  For an overview and complete product specifications on Weekly options on VIX futures, refer to http://cfe.cboe.com/Products/Spec_VIXWeeklys.aspx.

Volume in CBOE mini-VIX futures (ticker VM) totaled 737 contracts for the month, an increase of 78 percent from the 415 contracts traded in October 2009, and a gain of 56 percent from the 472 contracts traded the previous month.  CBOE mini-VIX futures contracts are one-tenth the size of CFE's standard CBOE VIX futures contract.  Additional details on VIX futures can be found at: http://cfe.cboe.com/Products/Products_VM.aspx.

CFE currently offers futures on five different contracts, including: the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Weekly options on VIX futures (VOW), CBOE mini-VIX (VM), 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: www.cboe.com/CFE.

CBOE®, CBOEdirect®, Chicago Board Options Exchange®, CFE®, CBOE Volatility Index® and VIX® are registered trademarks and CBOE Futures Exchange(SM) and Weeklys(SM) are servicemarks of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated.   S&P® and S&P 500® are registered trademarks of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. and are licensed for use by the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated pursuant to a License Agreement.

CBOE-EF

SOURCE CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC