Options Industry Council Announces On-Demand Webcasts Available at www.888options.com

Chicago—June 15, 2006

The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that free on-demand webcasts are available on its web site, www.888options.com.

As part of a major initiative to focus on web-based education, OIC webcasts are aimed at providing investors with a new and exciting online learning tool. Taught by the same options exchange instructors who host OIC's live seminars, the webcasts are typically one hour in length and offer a variety of topics for various investor skill levels. The on-demand function further enhances the experience by allowing visitors to learn at their convenience and at their own pace.

OIC plans to introduce a webcast each month through the end of this year, covering topics such as LEAPS®, protective puts, exit strategies, collars, greeks, trading mechanics and time decay.

Piloted in March, more than 15,000 investors have already viewed the webcasts and nearly a dozen are archived on the site, covering issues such as ETFs, covered call writing, options basics and volatility strategies.

"The recently launched webcast program has been an instant success. It meets the needs of our fastest-growing constituency namely, investors that use the internet as their primary source for education," said Michael Walinskas, OIC Executive Director. "We are taking advantage of the widespread growth of broadband technology. On-demand webcasts allow us to deliver the classroom to the investor, at their convenience. This educational tool significantly improves OIC’s ability to reach and help the target customer base for trading options."

OIC successfully redesigned its web site, www.888options.com, last fall and continues to enhance its offerings to meet demand from its customers for more web-based education. The site received more visits in 2005 than any previous year, with traffic up 18 percent over 2004 to 13.3 million total page views.

About OIC

OIC is a non-profit association funded by the American Stock Exchange, Boston Options Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, International Securities Exchange, NYSE Arca, Philadelphia Stock Exchange and The Options Clearing Corporation. OIC's free resources include: the Options Help Desk at 1-888-OPTIONS, an educational web site at www.888options.com, evening seminars throughout the continental United States and Canada, educational literature and software.

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