The Options Industry Council Announces April Volume Grew 15 Percent

Chicago—May 1, 2009

The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 324,545,671 total options contracts changed hands in April, representing a 15.20 percent increase over April 2008 when 281,722,376 contracts were traded.

April’s average daily volume for the month came in at 15,454,556 contracts, 20.69 percent greater than the 12,805,562 contracts averaged each day for the same period in 2008. Year-to-date volume for April stood at 1,184,861,104 contracts compared to 1,165,305,530 contracts traded for the same period last year and representing a 1.68 percent increase. Year-to-date daily volume averaged 14,449,526 contracts, up 2.92 percent over 14,039,826 contracts averaged for the same year ago period.

Equity options volume experienced an increase of 16.99 percent with 304,602,781 contracts exchanged in April compared to 260,371,744 contracts for the same period in 2008. Year-to-date equity options volume for April stood at 1,105,215,954 contracts compared to the same point last year when 1,073,393,992 contracts were traded, representing a 2.96 percent increase. Equity options volume averaged 14,504,894 contracts each day in April, up 16.99 percent compared to 12,398,654 contracts each day for the same month last year.

About OIC

OIC is an industry cooperative funded by the Boston Options Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, International Securities Exchange, NASDAQ OMX PHLX, NASDAQ Options Market, NYSE Amex Options, NYSE Arca Options, and The Options Clearing Corporation. OIC was formed in 1992 to educate investors and their financial advisors about the benefits and risks of exchange-traded equity options. 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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