CBOE SETS VOLUME RECORD WITH QQQ IN FEBRUARY
CHICAGO, March 2, 2001 -- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) set a
new record for first-day trading volume in a new product, with its February
27 launch of options on the Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock(sm), QQQ. In
its first day of trading, QQQ volume was 71,572 contracts (43,747 calls and
27,825 puts), making it the second most actively traded index option at
CBOE, trailing only the long-established S&P 500(r) Index options (SPX).
In February, CBOE exchange-wide average daily volume was 1,249,493
contracts, the eighteenth consecutive month that average daily volume has
exceeded a million contracts per day at CBOE.
Total volume at CBOE in February decreased from last year's record levels,
as 23,740,372 option contracts (13,997,146 calls and 9,743,226 puts)
traded, compared to 27,108,613 in February 2000. Open interest in all CBOE
listed options stood at 49,301,701 contracts at month's end, a 33% increase
over the end of February last year, when open interest stood at 37,083,375
contracts.
Stock option volume for the month of February totaled 19,617,175 contracts
(12,176,405 calls and 7,440,770 puts), a decrease of 13% from February
2000's record stock option volume of 22,513,704 contracts. Open interest
in stock options stood at 45,082,623 contracts (29,255,080 calls and
15,827,543 puts) at the end of February, a 37% increase over the close of
February 2000, when open interest stood at 32,911,304 contracts.
Volume in equity LEAPS(r) (Long-Term Equity AnticiPation Securities(r))
increased significantly in February, as investors turned to longer-term
options in response to market volatility. Total volume in equity LEAPS
totaled 1,956,780 contracts, a 37% increase over February 2000 volume of
1,430,690 contracts. Trading in S&P 500(r) (SPX) LEAPS totaled 125,042
contracts in February, a 153% increase over February 2000 volume of 49,526
contracts.
Total index option volume for February at CBOE was 4,119,189 contracts
(1,819,302 calls and 2,299,887 puts) compared to 4,585,879 contracts in
February 2000, a decrease of 10%. Trading in S&P 500(r) Index options
(SPX) totaled 1,765,521 contracts (751,881 calls and 1,013,640 puts).
Trading volume for the month of February in S&P 100(r) Index options (OEX)
was 858,988 contracts (413,183 calls and 445,805 puts).
Trading volume in CBOE's popular index product, the MNX(sm), an index
option launched in August 2000 and based on one-tenth of the Nasdaq-100
Index(r), continued to post impressive figures with 551,140 contracts
(268,120 calls and 283,020 puts) traded in February. Average daily volume
stood at 29,007 contracts, up 10% from the previous month. Open interest
in MNX stood at 517,802 contracts at the end of February, up 29% from the
close of January, when open interest stood at 401,070 contracts.
Volume in Nasdaq-100 Index(r) (NDX) options totaled 207,894 contracts for
the month, a 46% increase over the February 2000 volume of 141,970
contracts. Open interest in NDX stood at 93,032 contracts.
CBOE, the world's largest options marketplace and the creator of listed
options, is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For
additional information about the CBOE and its products, access the CBOE
site on the World Wide Web at cboe.com. |
