The Options Industry Council Announces September Options Trading Volume Decreased 4%

Chicago—October 1, 2010

The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 302,075,193 total options contracts changed hands in September, a 4.05 percent decline from the 314,809,865 contracts traded in September 2009. Year-to-date volume remains 5.20 percent higher than the same point last year.

Average daily trading volume for September was 14,384,533, down 4.05 percent from the 14,990,946 contract average daily volume record in September 2009. September year-to-date volume came in at 2,863,809,736 contracts, 5.20 percent higher than the same year ago period when 2,722,167,856 contracts were traded. Year-to-date average daily volume was 15,233,031 contracts at the end of September, a 5.20 percent increase compared to the 14,479,616 contracts traded at the same point last year.

Equity options volume in September saw 279,696,406 contracts change hands, 4.82 percent less than September 2009 when 293,862,512 contracts were traded. On average, 13,318,876 contracts were traded each day throughout September compared to September of last year when an average of 13,993,453 contracts were traded daily, representing a 4.82 percent decrease. Year-to-date equity options volume stood at 2,642,004,136 contracts, compared to 2,543,553,491 contracts at the same point last year, which is 3.87 percent higher.

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.OptionsEducation.org/institutional, evening seminars throughout the continental United States and Canada, instructional DVDs and educational literature and software.

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