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10   -   October 5, 2004
New Records for BOX, Daily Trading Volume Tops 200,000 for First Time
BOX Market Share on QQQs Hits 11%
Price Improvement Continues to Average Above $ 2 per Contract, Cumulative Savings to Customers Above $ 2.2 Million
BOX Market Share in Top Ten Classes
BOX Launching 100 Additional Options Classes
BOX Adds New Market Makers
 
New Records for BOX, Daily Trading Volume Tops 200,000 for First Time


225,429 options contracts were traded on BOX on October 1, 2004, smashing the record set the previous day by nearly 50%. The total represented 4% of overall OCC volume in equity options for the day.

Average daily volume in September was 95,880, a new record. The average for the last ten days of the month was 126,693 as BOX market share rose substantially during the second half. For daily trading volumes on BOX, click here.

Cumulative trading volume since BOX's launch on February 6 of this year topped 10 million contracts on September 29.

For a complete list of the classes presently listed on BOX or to be listed over the next few weeks, click here

 
BOX Market Share on QQQs Hits 11%

BOX set a new record for volume in a single options class on October 1 with 101,891 QQQs traded, the first time trading in a single class on BOX has topped the 100,000 mark. For the week, trading volume for the NASDAQ 100 options averaged 53,648 contracts per day; .

QQQs market share for the week of October 1 was 11%, a new record for BOX. The BOX market for the QQQs continues to match NBBO over 95% of the time with BOX being “stand alone NBBO” roughly 7% of the time. For details of BOX trading volume on the QQQs and daily market share, click here .

 


 
Price Improvement Continues to Average Above $ 2 per Contract, Cumulative Savings to Customers Above $ 2.2 Million

Price Improvement matched the historical average of $ 2 per contract during September. Since BOX's launch in February 2004, over $ 2.2 million have been “saved” by investors using the BOX PIP auction. PIP volume continues to average roughly 10% of overall BOX trading volume. For PIP statistics, click here.

Brokers looking for true best execution of customer orders and market makers who wish to participate in the fast, free, low cost market structure of BOX can contact us by email.

* There is a Patent Pending on the BOX market model, including the PIP.


 
BOX Market Share in Top Ten Classes

The table below provides the BOX market share of national volume on the ten most active classes on BOX for September, 2004 .

  • BOX “market share” is the share of total OCC-cleared options volume for the month of September 2004.
  • "BOX NBBO%” was calculated for the September 23, 2004 trading session and represents the percentage of time (over the entire trading session for each bid and offer for each call and put) that BOX was matching or bettering the best price shown on the other five options exchanges.
Symbol Market Share NBBO%
QQQ 4.7% 94.9%
MRK 7.9% 94.2%
EBAY 5.6% 85.9%
INTC 2.9% 85.4%
SMH 3.1% 92.1%
MSFT 4.5% 96.3%
QCOM 6.2% 90.9%
AMGN 11.6% 86.4%
DELL 5.5% 89.8%
AMAT 6.6% 96.2%

Information regarding BOX market share for the top traded classes is available daily on the BOX website (here).


 
BOX Launching 100 Additional Options Classes


BOX is adding 100 options classes to the previously listed 249 classes. The first 25 commenced trading September 27 with an additional 25 classes on October 4. The remaining fifty classes will be listed during October.

For a complete list of the classes presently listed on BOX as well as those to be listed in October, click here . The average number of market makers on all BOX options classes exceeds fifteen.

 
BOX Adds New Market Makers


With the launch of the next 100 options classes, BOX has also added eleven new market making Participants, joining the previously approved 28. BOX has also authorised many of the existing market makers to add appointments in previously listed classes, adding significant additional competition to the BOX central limit order book.

The average number of market makers on all BOX options classes exceeds fifteen, ranging from a low of nine to a high of 24. For a list of all BOX Participant firms, including market makers, click here.

 
 
Fully Automated - Fully
electronic equity options
exchange.

Low Entry Costs -
No seats to buy or rent.

Price and Time Priority -
Orders are handled on
a strict price/time priority without a specialist controlling the price.
There is no wheel for "allocating" trades that disincents competition.

Price Improvement Auctions - BOX includes
a unique electronic mini-auction which provides price improvement to orders that would otherwise be printed elsewhere at the NBBO.

Multiple, Competing Market
Makers - BOX places no limits on the number of market makers who may continuously quote on a given options class. They compete equally on a price and time basis.

Anonymous - BOX does
not provide information on broker identification when an order is displayed in the order book.

Transparent - Order book broadcasting five best price limitsallows traders to see market depth.

Open Architecture – Each trader may connect whatever trading system
he wishes.

Equal Treatment of Orders - BOX does not discriminate order priority on the basis of the type of account. All orders on the BOX book
are available to all traders on a first come, first served basis with no limitation on professional order executions.

 

Boston Options