CBOE TO LAUNCH OPTIONS ON EXQ-THE NEW BENCHMARK INDEX OF PUBLICLY TRADED EXCHANGES
Chicago and Miami Beach, FL - May 5, 2006 - The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced today that it plans to launch options on the CBOE Exchange Index, "EXQ," a new benchmark index based on the stock prices of publicly traded U.S. exchanges, pending regulatory approval.The EXQ Index is currently composed of the prices of CBOT Holdings, Inc. (BOT), Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings, Inc. (CME), IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), International Securities Exchange, Inc. (ISE), Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NDAQ) and NYSE Group, Inc. (NYX) stock.
"CBOE continues to forge new ground with the creation of another important benchmark index that captures the new 'exchange space'," said CBOE Chairman and CEO William J. Brodsky. "The CBOE Exchange Index is the only measure of the performance of this very popular, very significant, new market sector, and we expect it to become widely followed, just as the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) and the CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (BXM) are."
"With the rapid rise of the stocks included in the EXQ, this new sector has quickly evolved into the hottest sector of the market," said CBOE Vice Chairman Edward T. Tilly. "All of the exchanges included in the EXQ held their IPOs less than three years ago, which will make it a very interesting Index to watch, and an exciting Index to trade."
On May 1, the EXQ was down 4.95 to close at 88.08, but was up from a year ago, when it was at 38.06. By the first trading day of 2006, EXQ had reached 70.03, and closed over 100 for the first time on March 10, 2006. Historical data is available at cboe.com
The CBOE Exchange Index (EXQ) is an equal-dollar weighted, narrow-based security index, and is re-balanced on a quarterly basis. EXQ options will be cash-settled, and European style exercise. More information on EXQ is available on the CBOE website. |
