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OPTIONS PENNY PILOT PROGRAM

Overview

All six options exchanges, including BOX, currently quote options in nickel and dime increments. Starting in January 2007, investors will be able to begin trading in pennies in a limited number of options classes (Penny Pilot Program). These classes represent a diverse group of options with various trading characteristics. This diversity will allow for broad-based reporting, which will enable analysis on the impact of penny quoting on options with different volumes, liquidity, and strike prices. All classes contained in the Penny Pilot Program, except for the QQQQ’s will be traded in the following manner: if the options contract trades below $3, one (1) cent; and if the options contract trades at $3 or above, five (5) cents. The QQQQ’s will be quoted in one (1) cent increments for all options series. This change in minimum trading increments should help investors by providing more competitive pricing, reducing payment for order flow, reducing costs, and tightening spreads.

Options Symbols & Rollout Schedule

The Penny Pilot Program will include the following options symbols and program will be rolled out as follows:

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
WFMI
Whole Foods Market Inc.		 GE
General Electric Co.		 A
Agilent Tech Inc.
  MSFT
Microsoft Corp.		 AMD
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
    CAT
Caterpillar Inc.
    FLEX
Flextronics International Ltd.
    IWM
iShares Russell 2000® Index (ETF)
    INTC
Intel Corp.
    QQQQ
Nasdaq-100® Trust Shares (ETF)
    SMH
Semiconductor HOLDRs (ETF)
    SUNW
Sun Micro Systems Inc.
    TXN
Texas Instruments Inc.
Week 1 – Beginning on Friday January 26, 2006
Week 2 – Beginning on Friday February 2, 2006
Week 3 – Beginning on Friday February 9, 2006

Quote Mitigation Plan

Click here for a copy of BOX’s Quote Mitigation plan filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Testing

Click here for information regarding BOX’s Penny Pilot testing.

BOX Results

Contact Us

For further information, please contact pennies@bostonoptions.com
 
 
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