CBOE Updates
CBOE'S FIFTH STRAIGHT RECORD VOLUME YEAR
By
Feb 9, 2009 - 5:51:41 PM

CBOE'S FIFTH STRAIGHT RECORD VOLUME YEAR


Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced that 2008 was the busiest ever in its 35-year history as 1,193,355,070 contracts changed hands, a 26-percent increase over the 944,471,924 contracts traded in 2007. Average daily volume (ADV) of 4.7 million contracts beat 2007's 3.8-million-contract ADV by 25 percent and capped off CBOE's fifth consecutive year of record trading.

During December, CBOE trading volume totaled nearly 73 million contracts, a one-percent rise over December 2007. Average daily trading volume for the month dropped eight percent to 3.3 million contracts.


Equity, Index and ETF options:
Total volume in equity options at CBOE during 2008 tallied a record 604.0 million contracts, an increase of 21 percent over the then-record 500 million contracts traded in 2007.Average daily volume in equity options trading rose to 2.4 million contracts, an increase of 20 percent compared to 1.6 million contracts per day during 2007. ETF options volume of 329.8 million contracts and index options volume of 259.3 million contracts also were annual records, besting 2007 totals by 55 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Daily volume in ETF options in 2008 averaged 1.3 million contracts, while index options averaged just more than one million contracts per day.

CBOE's 2008 Market Share Rises to 33.3 Percent
In 2008, CBOE's overall market share rose to 33.3 percent, an increase of 0.3 percentage points over 2007 as measured against the six other U.S. options exchanges. In equity options, CBOE's market share of 27.4 percent rose 1.7 percentage points over 2007's 25.7 percent. CBOE index option market share rose 2.8 percentage points to 88.8 percent during 2008, while ETF option market share dropped 2.7 percentage points to 30.3 percent.

Eighteen of the twenty busiest single trading days in CBOE's 35-year history occurred during 2008, including the all-time, single-day leader - 9,975,464 contracts traded on September 18, 2008.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) experienced the widest range of daily closes ever in a calendar year during 2008?16.30 on May 15 (low of the year) to 80.86 on November 20 (high of the year); the average daily VIX closing level was 32.65 during the year.In addition, the Index closed above 50 on fifty trading days during the year, a level not reached before 2008.The CBOE Volatility Index is derived from real-time S&P 500 Index (SPX) options prices and is designed to reflect investors' consensus view of expected near-term stock market volatility over the next 30 days.   On November 21, the CBOE S&P BuyWrite Index (BXM) generated a gross premium of 8.1 percent, the highest amount in more than two decades.

- Trading in CBOE Volatility Index options continued its growth in 2008 as nearly 26 million contracts traded during the year, an increase of close to 11 percent over the previous record of 23.4 million contracts traded in 2007.Average daily volume rose to 102,560 contracts from 93,181 contracts in 2007.Options on VIX, launched in February 2006, already rank as CBOE's second most-actively traded index option and have been the most successful new product launch in recent CBOE history.

The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) announced that 2008 was the busiest year in its five-year history as volume totaled 1,161,019 contracts.Volume in 2008 rose two percent over 1,136,295 contracts traded last year and marked the fourth consecutive year of record annual trading volume at CFE.Average daily volume for the year was 4,589 contracts, compared to the year-ago average daily volume of 4,527 contracts.Volume in CFE's most-actively traded contract, VIX futures, based on the CBOE Volatility Index (ticker VX), totaled a record 1,088,090 contracts during 2008, up four percent from 1,046,475 contracts traded in 2007, the previous high.On the year, average daily volume in VIX futures was 4,301 contracts, versus 4,169 contracts per day in 2007.