CBOE TO LAUNCH MINI-SPX INDEX OPTIONS ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2005
CHICAGO - October 20, 2005 -- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)
will launch Mini-SPX options, based on the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock
Index, on Tuesday, October 25, 2005, as previously announced. Mini-SPX
options (ticker symbol XSP) will be 1/10th the value of the S&P 500
Index, and will trade on CBOE's Hybrid 2.0 Trading System, which
includes Remote Market Makers. Trading XSP options on CBOE's Hybrid
Trading System will offer investors a smaller-sized S&P 500 contract
with the combined advantages of electronic trading and the open-outcry
market on a single platform.
"CBOE's Index options have been the fastest growing segment of our
business due to the increased interest in option products that provide
the benefit of trading the broad market. The unparalleled liquidity
found in CBOE's Index complex and the ease of access through the Hybrid
Trading System is a powerful combination that delivers real value to
our customers," said CBOE Chairman and CEO William J. Brodsky.
"CBOE now offers a full suite of S&P Index products, each with unique
characteristics that appeal to different customers' needs, and
combined, will create new trading opportunities. Our new Mini-SPX
options provide all the advantages of trading the broad-market S&P 500,
yet come in a manageably sized contract, with the certainty of
European-style exercise, efficiency of cash-settlement and the benefits
of our Hybrid Trading System, all of which will appeal to a wide range
of customers," said CBOE Vice Chairman Edward T. Tilly. "Through
innovation by our members and new product development team, CBOE is
again adding real value, and real options, for investors."
"Historically, options have been a great way to trade the overall
direction of the market - as defined by the S&P 500," says Robert
Shakotko, Managing Director of Index Services at Standard & Poor's.
"With over $3.5 trillion benchmarked to the S&P 500, the new Mini-SPX
options will provide investors with access to the world's most followed
index in a liquid and affordably-sized contract."