By the way, I don't agree with your characterization, but it's an opinion which you are free to have.
PHILADELPHIA, April 7, 1999 - - The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) announced today that
volume in PHLX's 890 equity options for the month of March reached an all-time record of 4,109,375
contracts traded, surpassing the previous record volume month set in September, 1998 when
3,840,235 contracts changed hands. In addition, equity options volume through the first quarter of
1999 increased 42% to reach an all-time record of 11,385,596 contracts, surpassing the industry's
percentage growth of 28% over the same period last year.
Volume in PHLX's fourteen sectors index options for the month of March reached an all-time record
of 401,665 contracts, an 8% increase over the previous record volume month set in January 1996,
when 369,319 contracts changed hands. Leading this record was volume in PHLX's Oil Service
Sector (OSX) which averaged over 10,185 contracts traded per day, with total volume for the month
of March reaching a record 234,264 contracts traded. PHLX currently lists options on fourteen
sectors: The Gold/Silver Sector, Semiconductor Sector, PHLX/KBW Bank Sector, Oil Service
Sector, Computer Box Maker Sector, OTC Prime Sector, TheStreet.com Internet Sector, Utility
Sector, Forest and Paper Sector, National Over-the-Counter Sector, Phone Sector, Super Cap
Sector, U.S. TOP 100 Index, and the Value Line Composite Index.
PHLX equity volume through the first quarter of 1999 increased to 450,049,071 shares traded, an
increase of over 27% in comparison to the same time period last year when 354,745,969 shares
changed hands. In addition, equity volume for the month of March, 1999 reached 165,782,170
shares, an increase of over 30% in comparison to March, 1998 when 127,584,248 shares traded.
The PHLX trades over 2600 equity issues.
Volume in PHLX's customized and standardized currency options reached 105,970 contracts traded
for the month of March. In addition, customized and standardized currency options volume for the
first quarter of 1999 increased to 239,646 contracts traded ($10.7 billion in underlying value).
The PHLX is the first securities exchange in the U.S. and the nation's fastest growing sectors index
options exchange. Founded in 1790, PHLX is a market leader in the trading of over 2600 stocks,
890 equity options, 14 sectors index options, and 100 currency pairs. |
