“We expect that offering our customers Full-sized Metal options contracts side-by-side via open auction and electronically will encourage arbitrage opportunities, generate more competitive bid/ask spreads, and enhance liquidity for the entire marketplace,“ said Robert Ray, Senior Vice President of Business Development for the CBOT.
The Full-sized Metals options contracts will trade alongside the 30-Year Bond Options pit in the CBOT Financial Trading Room from 7:10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Chicago Time) Monday – Friday. The CBOT will have market makers in place on the first day of pit trading. In addition to trading Metals options on e-cbot, customers will be able to submit Gold and Silver options trades via the CBOT’s electronic order entry system.
The CBOT’s all-electronic Metals futures complex continues to attract new market participants and achieve greater volume since the contracts were launched in October 2004. For the month of September, the Exchange’s Metals complex accounted for 52 percent of listed Metals futures contracts in North America. CBOT Full-sized Gold futures contracts captured 54 percent market share of all gold futures listed in North America for the same time period.
Recently, strong customer demand led the CBOT to make several efficiency enhancements to its Metals complex. Since the launch of the CBOT’s directed fungibility program on September 1, more than 100 futures transactions have been executed. The CBOT plans to implement an electronic warehouse receipt delivery process in the fourth quarter of 2006.
The CBOT’s Metals complex consists of Full-sized Gold (100 oz.) futures and options contracts, mini-sized Gold (33 oz.) futures contracts, Full-sized Silver (5,000 oz.) futures and options contracts, and mini-sized Silver (1,000 oz.) futures contracts. To view the live book of bids, offers and quantities, or to obtain more information about the CBOT Metals complex, please visit the Exchange’s web site at www.cbot.com/metals
