Trading Reaches All-time Volume High for Second Consecutive Month at CBOE Futures Exchange

CHICAGO, March 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) today announced that February 2011 was the most active trading month in CFE history.  The record 789,734 contracts that changed hands during the month surpassed the previous high of 778,157 contracts in January 2011.  February's volume exceeded the 188,236 contracts traded in February 2010 by 320 percent.  

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The top four most-active trading months in CBOE Futures Exchange history have occurred during the last four months.  In addition to record January and February 2011 volumes noted above, November and December 2010 volumes posted 751,481 contracts and 556,250 contracts, respectively.  February 2011 was also the most-active month of February on record at CFE and marked the seventeenth consecutive month in which total volume registered an increase when comparing year-over-year trading activity.

Average daily volume (ADV) of 41,565 contracts during February, also a new record, topped February 2010 ADV of 9,907 contracts.  When compared to 38,908 contracts per day during January, ADV in February rose four percent.  This was the first month in which CFE daily volume has averaged over 40,000 contracts.

February volume in VIX futures, based on the CBOE Volatility Index (ticker VX), totaled a record 788,908 contracts, exceeding the 187,725 contracts in February 2010, and 777,366 contracts in January.  ADV in VIX futures reached a new high of 41,521 contracts during February, compared to the 9,880 contracts per day a year ago and 38,868 contracts per day in January 2011.  

Yesterday, plans were announced to launch futures on the CBOE Gold ETF Volatility Index (Ticker - GVZ). Pending regulatory approval, CBOE Futures Exchange will begin trading GVZ futures on Friday, March 25.  

Calculation of the CBOE Gold ETF Volatility Index ("Gold VIX") is based on the well-known CBOE VIX methodology applied to options on the SPDR Gold Trust (Ticker - GLD).  The Gold VIX is an up-to-the-minute market estimate of the expected 30-day volatility of GLD, calculated using real-time bid/ask quotes of GLD options that are listed on CBOE. For more information on CBOE Gold ETF Volatility Index futures, see http://www.cboe.com/gvz.

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/.  

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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