ISE Reports Monthly Volume for April 2008
The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today reported that in April 2008, its options exchange traded an average daily volume of 4.0 million contracts and was the largest
U.S. options exchange as measured by total volume traded for the month. The ISE Stock Exchange traded an average daily volume of 62.3 million shares in the same period.
Average daily trading volume for all options contracts increased 48.0% to 4.0 million contracts in April as compared to 2.7 million contracts during the same period in 2007. Total options volume for the month increased 62.8% to 88.9 million contracts from 54.6 million contracts in the same year-ago period.
On a year-to-date basis, average daily trading volume of all options increased 52.1% to 4.2 million contracts traded as compared to 2.8 million contracts traded in the prior year.
Total year-to-date options volume through April 2008 increased 55.8% to 348.7 million contracts from 223.8 million contracts in the same period last year.
ISE FX Options began trading on April 17, 2007. Average daily volume for 2007 is calculated based on the number of days the products traded.
ISE's market share statistics continue to be negatively impacted by trading strategies that are permitted based on a non-economic rationale.
These strategies include dividend trades and synthetic short interest trades. These trades temporarily inflate and distort trading volume and market share when transacted.
Monthly Highlights
ISE was the largest
U.S. options exchange in April as measured by total volume traded.
On April 22, 2008, ISE traded its 3 billionth options contract.
The trade, which was in Yahoo! Inc., took place between Goldman Sachs & Co. and Susquehanna Investment Group.
Open interest in ISE FX Options reached 488,295 contracts on April 30, 2008 and average daily trading volume was 7,642 contracts for the month.
ISE traded more volume than any other options exchange in 1,155 of 1,933 issues in its listings.
The International Securities Exchange operates a family of fully electronic trading platforms, creating efficient markets through innovative technology and market structure. ISE's markets portfolio consists of an options exchange and a stock exchange. As the world's largest equity options trading venue, ISE offers options on equities, ETFs, indexes, and FX. The ISE Stock Exchange trades approximately 6,000 products, and is the only fully electronic equities platform that provides the opportunity for continuous price improvement through the interaction of its non-displayed liquidity pool, MidPoint Match, and its displayed stock market. ISE Alternative Markets is scheduled to launch in 2008 and will offer a parimutuel trading platform for derivatives auctions. To complement its markets and enable investors to trade smarter, ISE creates innovative new products including a portfolio of proprietary indexes and enhanced market data for sophisticated investors.
