GM Generali

By John Spence

BOSTON (Dow Jones) -- Investors who want to bet on the ups and downs of federal bailout recipients now have a place to go.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. on Monday listed options on an index tracking stocks of companies that have received capital from the government under initiatives such as the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP.

The index is designed by Nasdaq and includes big banks such as Citigroup Inc. (C) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), along with smaller regional banks and other financial-services stocks that have been the beneficiaries of government aid. General Motors Corp. (GM) is also included. See index holdings.

"This development gives investors the opportunity to trade options on a basket of U.S. companies that are participating in the government's financial relief plan," said John Jacobs, executive vice president in Nasdaq's global index group.

"This is the first of several products that enables investors to develop trading strategies involving some of the companies most directly affected by the current relief efforts," Jacobs said in a written statement.

The TARP index is made up of public companies that have received a direct investment from the U.S. government of at least $1 billion. Nasdaq (NDAQ) says more indexes are on the way.

Susquehanna Securities is the specialist for the new Nasdaq-listed options.

The Nasdaq OMX Government Relief Index, which was launched earlier this month, has gotten off to an inauspicious start amid the recent carnage in financial stocks.

On Friday, Jacobs told CNBC that exchange-traded fund managers have expressed interest in licensing the index for ETFs. A Nasdaq spokesman didn't immediately return a call Monday.

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