Options Industry Volume Grows 28% Over Last February

Chicago—March 1, 2007

The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that options trading volume in February rose 28.2 percent over the same period last year as 183,249,640 contracts were traded during the month.

Equity options volume also increased in February with 166,577,534 contracts, an increase of 27 percent over the 131,091,363 contracts traded in February 2006.

The trend of higher growth continues with year-to-date volume increasing 18.6 percent over the same period last year. Total options volume currently stands at 380,827,149 contracts compared to last year’s 321,181,289 contracts.

Additional volume statistics reported by The Options Clearing Corporation include:

• Average daily total options volume 9,644,717 contracts (up 28.2 percent from February 2006)
• Average daily equity options volume 8,767,239 contracts (up 27 percent from February 2006)
• Year-to-date daily average for total options is 9,764,799 contracts (up 18.6 percent over same period in 2006)
• Year-to-date daily average for equity options is 8,937,977 contracts (up 17.8 percent over same period in 2006)

February Highlights

February claimed two of the top ten volume days ever recorded:

• On February 27, an astonishing 18,281,667 contracts were traded, becoming the number one trading day on record for total volume. On the same day, equity options trading set a new number one record with 16,397,163 contracts.
• On February 9, total options volume reached 13,129,978 contracts traded, joining the list of top 10 highest total options volume days as the eighth highest trading day on record. On the same day, equity options volume reached 12,174,004 contracts, joining the list of top 10 highest equity options volume days as the fifth highest trading day on record.

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 resources include: The Options Industry Services call center at 1-888-OPTIONS, educational Web sites at www.888options.com and www.OICoptions.com, evening seminars throughout the continental United States and Canada , instructional DVDs and educational literature and software.

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