CBOE And C2 Plan To Launch Mini-Options On March 18 For AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, GLD And SPY

CHICAGO, March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) announced today that Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (CBOE) and C2 Options Exchange (C2) plan to launch trading in "mini-options" that are one-tenth the size of standard options on five popular stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs). Mini-options on Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) will begin trading on Monday, March 18.

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"Many retail customers hold less than 100 shares of these higher-priced stocks in their portfolios," CBOE Chairman and CEO William J. Brodsky said. "We're excited to begin offering mini-options, which will give investors the ability to hedge their positions and trade options on these stocks more economically than with standard-sized options."

Mini-options contracts feature specifications identical to those of standard-sized options contracts on the above securities, except:

• Mini-options contracts represent 10 shares of the underlying security versus 100 shares for standard-sized options contracts; and
• Mini-options contracts trade under a different trading symbol than standard-sized options contracts. Mini-options carry the number "7" at the end of the security symbol.  For example, the Apple mini-options symbol is AAPL7.

In addition to standard monthly expiration dates, non-standard expiration dates (i.e., Weeklys options series, Quarterlys option series and LEAPS) will be eligible for mini-options trading. Plans also call for minimum price movements to be the same in both standard-sized options and mini-options, pending regulatory approval.

The following Designated Primary Market Makers (DPMs) have been appointed for mini-options for CBOE (C2):

• AAPL --  Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (C2: Wolverine Trading, LLC)
• AMZN – Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp. (C2: Timber Hill, LLC)
• GOOG – Susquehanna Securities (C2: Timber Hill, LLC)
• GLD -- Citadel Securities, LLC
• SPY-- Wolverine Trading, LLC

C2 did not appoint DPMs for GLD and SPY mini-options. At C2, DPMs are appointed only in equity classes that are part of the options Penny Pilot Program.

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