CBOT Metals Complex Beats Previous Day's Records; Volume Exceeds 96,000 Contracts

Open Interest in CBOT Precious Metals Complex is Up 70 Percent in April 2006 


CHICAGO, April 21  /PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT(R)) announced today that volume in the Exchange's 100 percent electronically- traded Metals complex eclipsed records set on April 19, 2006 by 66 percent, as volume climbed to 96,630 contracts.  The prior record was 58,137 contracts.

Open interest in the CBOT Metals complex totaled 40,886 contracts on April 20 -- a 70 percent increase since the end of March.  Open interest represents the number of trading positions that have not yet been offset and closed at the end of a trading day.

Robert Ray, senior vice president of business development at the Exchange said:  "The market's desire for trade certainty through our transparent electronic model continues to manifest itself with the recent record-setting performances within the CBOT Metals complex.  A true measure of a market's role is demonstrated by its performance under volatile conditions, including its ability to immediately scale to meet the needs of all participants.  The CBOT's role has been clearly defined, as evidenced by these records."

Month-to-date, the CBOT Metals futures complex accounts for more than 26 percent of listed Gold and Silver futures contracts traded in North America.

In addition to the composite CBOT Metals complex volume record set yesterday, every contract within the complex set individual records:

                                  Previous     Date       April 20  Percent
                                   Record                  Totals   Increase
  Total Metals Futures & Options   58,137  April 19, 2006  96,630    66.21%

  Total Metals Futures Complex     57,155  April 19, 2006  95,393    66.90%

  Gold Futures Complex             42,007  April 19, 2006  70,420    67.64%

  Silver Futures Complex           15,148  April 19, 2006  24,973    64.86%

  100 Oz. Gold Futures             28,781  April 19, 2006  50,068    73.96%

  mini-sized Gold Futures          13,226  April 19, 2006  20,352    53.88%

  5000 Oz. Silver Futures           7,019  April 19, 2006  12,560    78.94%

  mini-sized Silver Futures         8,129  April 19, 2006  12,413    52.70%

  100 Oz. Gold Options                982  April 19, 2006   1,237    25.97%




For more information on the CBOT and its Metals complex, please visit http://www.cbot.com/ .

About the CBOT

As one of the leading global derivative exchanges, the Chicago Board of Trade provides a diverse mix of financial, equity and commodity futures and options-on-futures products.  Building on its 158-year history, the CBOT continues to advance into the future using the strength of deep liquidity, market integrity and member-trader expertise.  Using superior trading technology in both electronic and open-auction trading platforms, the CBOT provides premier customer service to risk managers and investors worldwide. For more information, visit our website at http://www.cbot.com/ .

Forward-Looking Statements

In this release, our use of the words "may," "should," "could," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or other comparable terminology is intended to identify forward-looking statements.  These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements.  More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in filings made by CBOT Holdings, Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be obtained at its website at http://www.sec.gov/ .  We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 

DATASOURCE: Chicago Board of Trade



CONTACT:  Craig Grabiner of Chicago Board of Trade, [phone],

 



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

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