Year-End Thoughts From the Wise Men of Options

This year will end with about 860 million total options contracts traded; this will be a new record, eclipsing 2001's banner year by about 80 million contracts. But all is not joy in Optionsville.

For all those whose lives are touched by options, from retail investors to professional traders and market makers to the exchanges themselves, 2003 has been full of challenges, changes and transitions.

Just as the silver cloud of the surging stock market is ringed by the black lining of scandal and malfeasance -- is that term so 2002 yet? -- the options industry is also facing upheaval and scrutiny about how its business is conducted, as questions about the integrity of marketplace persist. ...