CBOT LAUNCHES NEW $25 “BIG” DOW PRODUCT
CHICAGO, February 13, 2006 – The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT®) announced today it will list a new DowSM $25 futures product to be known as the “BIG” Dow contract. The contract is expected to launch on March 20, 2006 and will expand the CBOT’s Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIASM) futures complex to meet the demand for a larger sized, electronically traded product.
CBOT Senior Vice President of Business Development Robert D. Ray said, “Our new BIG Dow product will facilitate additional trading opportunities as the result of the fungibility within the CBOT’s DJIA futures complex, as well as with other broad-based equity index futures contracts that have a significantly high correlation to the DJIA. In addition, offering a BIG Dow contract with a $25 multipler is very attractive to a broad spectrum of market participants. The CBOT BIG Dow contract will represent, in terms of notional value, the single largest equity index futures contract traded exclusively on an electronic platform.”
Dow Jones Indexes/Ventures President Michael A. Petronella said, “We are convinced that the new $25 Dow product developed by the CBOT will further strengthen the usefulness to investors of the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures complex. The extension of the Dow products at the CBOT demonstrates continued strong interest in this premier index and the CBOT’s leadership in serving that interest.”
The CBOT will determine the daily settlement prices of the CBOT Dow futures contract based upon a settlement calculated for the electronically-traded, mini-sized Dow futures contract. The new BIG Dow futures contract will be cash settled on the final settlement day, which will be the third Friday of each contract month.
The CBOT is also creating a market maker program for the BIG Dow futures contract to ensure a tight two-sided market to take place during core U.S. equity market trading hours (6:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. CST, Sunday – Friday). The CBOT is currently in negotiations with several liquidity providers.
The CBOT DJIA futures complex, which includes the CBOT mini-sized Dow ($5), the CBOT Dow ($10) and CBOT BIG Dow ($25) futures contracts are based on the Dow Jones Industrial AverageSM – one of the world's most readily recognized and followed stock indexes. These products provide large and small investors a way to take a position based on the performance of the DJIASM, to diversify and protect their portfolios against potential adverse price changes in the stock market, and to preserve investment value.
About the CBOT
As one of the leading global derivative exchanges, the Chicago Board of Trade provides a diverse mix of financial, equity and commodity futures and options-on-futures products. Building on its 157-year history, the CBOT continues to advance into the future using the strength of deep liquidity, market integrity and member-trader expertise. Using superior trading technology in both electronic and open-auction trading platforms, the CBOT provides premier customer service to risk managers and investor worldwide. For more information visit our web site at www.cbot.com. |
