Trading Activity at CBOE Futures Exchange Reaches All-Time High in January

CHICAGO, Feb. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) today announced that several trading records were set at the exchange during January 2011, including total exchange monthly volume, exchange monthly average daily volume, total VIX futures monthly volume and VIX futures monthly average daily volume.    

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

The record 778,157 total contracts that changed hands at CFE in January eclipsed the previous high of 751,481 contracts traded in November 2010.  When compared to the 221,025 contracts traded a year ago and the 556,250 contracts traded in December, January's volume rose by 252 percent and 40 percent, respectively.  

Exchange average daily volume (ADV) during January was a new record of 38,908 contracts, up 234 percent when compared to the 11,632 contracts per day from the previous year and 54 percent above the 25,284 contracts from December.  January's record ADV surpassed the previous high mark of 35,785 contracts per day set in November 2010.

The top three most-active trading months in CFE history have occurred during the last three months:  January 2011 (778,157 contracts), November 2010 (751,481 contracts) and December 2010 (556,250 contracts).  January 2011 was also the most-active month of January on record at CFE and marked the sixteenth consecutive month in which total volume registered an increase when comparing year-over-year trading activity.

For the month of January, volume in VIX futures was 777,366 contracts, exceeding the 220,226 contracts traded in January 2010 by 253 percent, and the 555,494 contracts traded in December 2010 by 40 percent.  Average daily volume in VIX futures during January was 38,868 contracts, compared with 11,590 contracts per day from January 2010 and the 25,250 contracts per day from December 2010.  Both the total volume and ADV in VIX futures set new records in January, topping the previous records in November 2010 of 750,914 total contracts and 35,788 contracts per day.  

Trading in CBOE mini-VIX futures totaled 727 contracts traded in January, a nine percent decrease from the 796 contracts traded in January 2010, but a two percent increase from the 716 contracts that changed hands in December.  Volume in CFE's newest contract -- Weekly options on VIX futures -- was 64 contracts, compared with the 40 contracts traded in December.  Weekly options on VIX futures began trading on September 28, 2010.  

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: http://cfe.cboe.com.  

CBOE-EF

CBOE®, Chicago Board Options Exchange®, CFE®, CBOE Volatility Index® and VIX® are registered trademarks, and CBOE Futures ExchangeSM and WeeklysSM are servicemarks of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (CBOE).  Standard & Poor's®, S&P® and S&P 500® are registered trademarks of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. and have been licensed for use by CBOE.  

SOURCE CBOE