American Stock Exchange to Trade Options On Four New SPDR ETFs

NEW YORK, May 30  /PRNewswire/ -- The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) today launched trading in options on the following Amex-listed exchange traded funds:

  --  SPDR Lehman 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (Symbol: BIL)
  --  SPDR Lehman Intermediate Term Treasury ETF (Symbol: ITE)
  --  SPDR Lehman Long Term Treasury ETF (Symbol: TLO)
  --  SPDR Barclays Capital TIPS ETF (Symbol: IPE)



SPDR Lehman 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF options will open with strike prices of (40 - 50 1 pt increments) and position limits of 2,500,000 shares. The options will trade on the March expiration cycle. The specialist will be Susquehanna Investment Group. The Fund's investment objective is to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of an index that tracks the 1-3 month sector of the United States Treasury Bill market. The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the Lehman Brothers 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index (the "1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index"). The 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one month and less than three months.

SPDR Lehman Intermediate Term Treasury ETF options will open with strike prices of (48 -58 1 pt increments) and position limits of 2,500,000 shares. The options will trade on the March expiration cycle. The specialist will be Susquehanna Investment Group. The Fund's investment objective is to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of an index that tracks the 1-10 year sector of the United States Treasury market. The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the Lehman Brothers Intermediate U.S. Treasury Index (the "Intermediate U.S. Treasury Index"). The Intermediate U.S. Treasury Index measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year and less than 10 years.

SPDR Lehman Long Term Treasury ETF options will open with strike prices of (45 - 55 1 pt increments) and position limits of 2,500,000 shares. The options will trade on the March expiration cycle. The specialist will be Susquehanna Investment Group. The Fund's investment objective is to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of an index that tracks the long term sector of the United States Treasury market. The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the Lehman Brothers Long U.S. Treasury Index (the "Long U.S. Treasury Index"). The Long U.S. Treasury Index measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have a remaining maturity of 10 or more years.

SPDR Barclays Capital TIPS ETF options will open with strike prices of (44- 45 1 pt increments) and position limits of 2,500,000 shares. The options will trade on the March expiration cycle. The specialist will be Susquehanna Investment Group. The Fund's investment objective is to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of an index that tracks the inflation protected sector of the United States Treasury market. The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the Barclays U.S. Government Inflation-linked Bond Index (the "U.S. Treasury TIPS Index"). The U.S. Treasury TIPS Index measures the performance of the inflation protected public obligations of the U.S. Treasury. Inflation protected public obligations of the U.S. Treasury, commonly known as "TIPS," are securities issued by the U.S. Treasury that are designed to provide inflation protection to investors.

About the American Stock Exchange

The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDRS(SM). In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the pioneer of the ETF, responsible for bringing the first domestic product to market in 1993. Leading the industry in ETF listings, the Amex lists 314 ETFs to date. The Amex is also one of the largest options exchanges in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks. For more information, please visit http://www.amex.com/. 

DATASOURCE: American Stock Exchange



CONTACT:  Catherine Chantharaj, of American Stock Exchange,

[phone], 



Web site:  http://www.amex.com/ 

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