Record Options Volume Paced By Index and ETF Options Trading

The CBOE recently crashed through its old monthly volume records, after impressive performance in July. Total volume for the month was 87.2 million contracts, a 5% increase over the old record of 83 million set in March 2007 and a strong 64% increase from July 2006. However, this does not even keep pace with the overall industry volume, which was up 72% from July 2006, according to the Options Industry Council.

Indeed, it seems to have been a very good month for the options industry as a whole, with the Options Clearing Corporation breaking its daily volume record twice-hitting 18.8 million and then 21 million contracts. The Options Industry Council said July 2007 was a record month, with its 266 million contracts beating the previous record in March 2007 by roughly 16%.

The CBOE's average daily volume for July 2007 was 4.15 million contracts, marking the first time the exchange has achieved a daily average of more than 4 million contracts. Four of the top ten trading days in the exchange's history were in June 2007.

Year-to-date volumes were up 31% over the same time period in 2006 to a total of more than 513 million contracts and an average daily volume of 3.5 million.

The strongest growth has been in index and ETF options. Index and ETF options combined saw more than 41 million contracts traded in July 2007, with that amount split nearly evenly between the two types. That's a 68% increase over July 2006 and an increase of 76% for ETF options in particular. Equity options were up just 60%. For the first seven months of 2007, index and ETF options increased 40% over the same time period in 2006, versus a 24% increase for equity options. options on a month-to-month basis.

Market share held relatively steady for the CBOE, at about 33%, although it was down slightly from the previous month and July 2006.