Definition of Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)

the world's largest options marketplace and the creator of listed options. Options traded at CBOE include options on equity, index, ETFs, structured products, and interest rates. The CBOE traded 911 contracts when it opened on April 26, 1973, listing call options on 16 stocks. Today it lists equity options on some 1,700 stocks and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). The exchange launched index options in 1983 with the standard & poor's 100 index (OEX). The contract is the most actively traded index option in the world. The CBOE holds over 90% of the index options market, trading cash-settled index options on more than 40 indices. It also trades LEAPS, FLEX options, exchangetraded funds, structured products, and interest rate options. Among the most heavily traded index options are contracts on the Dow Jones, S&P, Russell, and NASDAQ indices. CBOE also trades a family of options on international indices as well as industry sector indices. The CBOE trades European-style cash-settled options on the yield of U.S. Treasury securities. The CBOE Volatility Index, known as the VIX, is a measure of the volatility of the U.S. equity market, using real-time S&P 500 Index option bid/ask quotes. In 2004, CBOE founded the CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC. CFE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBOE that operates as an all-electronic exchange, using CBOEdirect as its trading platform, with trades cleared through the Options Clearing Corporation. Trading hours: Monday through Friday, from 8:30 A.M. to 3:15 P.M. www.cboe.com.