The Options Industry Council Announces April Options Trading Volume Up 11%

Chicago—May 3, 2010

The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 360,753,581 total options contracts were traded in April, representing a 11.16 percent increase over April 2009 volume of 324,545,671 contracts.

Average daily trading volume for April was 17,178,742 contracts compared to the same year ago period when 15,454,556 contracts were averaged each day. On April 16, a new top ten day was recorded with 27,484,418 total contracts traded, making this the fifth highest day on record for total volume traded.

April year-to-date volume stood at 1,285,754,225 contracts, an increase of 8.52 percent compared to April 2009 when 1,184,861,104 contracts were exchanged. Year-to-date daily volume averaged 15,679,930 contracts compared to the prior year period when 14,449,525 contracts were averaged, representing an 8.52 percent increase.

Equity options saw 334,758,439 contracts change hands, 9.90 percent more than in April 2009 when 304,602,781 contracts were traded. Year-to-date equity options volume was 1,187,262,011 contracts, compared to 1,105,215,954 contracts at the same point last year which represents an increase of 7.42 percent.

About OIC

OIC is an industry cooperative funded by BATS Options, 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 websites at www.OptionsEducation.org, www.OptionsEducation.org/advisor and www.OICoptions.com, evening seminars throughout the continental United States and Canada, instructional DVDs and educational literature and software.

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