Options Industry Volume Increases 33% Over Last February

Chicago—March 3, 2008

The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that options trading volume in February rose 33.4 percent over the same period last year as 244,419,633 contracts changed hands during the month.

Equity options volume was also up in February with 224,808,922 contracts, an increase of 35 percent compared to 166,577,534 contracts traded in February of last year.

Continuing the high growth trend, year-to-date volume increased 59.97 percent over the same period last year. Total options volume currently stands at 601,582,921 contracts compared to last year’s 380,827,149 contracts.

The Options Clearing Corporation reported the following additional volume numbers:

• Average daily total options volume is 12,220,981 contracts (up 26.71 percent from February 2007)
• Average daily equity options volume is 11,240,446 contracts (up 28.21 percent from February 2007)
• Year-to-date daily average for total options is 14,672,755 contracts (up 50.26 percent over same period in 2007)
• Year-to-date daily average for equity options is 13,502,199 contracts (up 51.07 percent over same period in 2007)

About OIC

OIC is an industry cooperative 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 Help Desk at 1-888-OPTIONS, educational Web sites at www.optionseducation.org and www.OICoptions.com, evening seminars throughout the continental United States and Canada, instructional DVDs and educational literature and software.

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