CHICAGO, Sept. 12, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- CME Group, the world's largest and most diverse exchange, today announced it has renewed its contract with Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider. The agreement enables the exchange to continue to exclusively offer futures and options on futures products based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA(sm)) and other Dow Jones Indexes, which are some of the most recognized benchmarks in the financial industry.
The DJIA $10 futures contract, which has a $10 multiplier, has been offered at the Chicago Board of Trade, now part of CME Group, since October 6, 1997. The Dow Jones Index suite has since been expanded to include a mini-sized Dow $5 and a Big Dow DJIA $25 contract, enabling small and large investors a way to take a position based on the performance of the DJIA. In addition, the exchange recently began offering contracts based on the Dow Jones AIG Commodity Index Excess Return Index(sm) and the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index(sm), allowing customers more opportunities to hedge or gain exposure to an even broader array of asset classes.
"The Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of the most recognized barometers of the equity marketplace," said CME Group Executive Chairman Terry Duffy. "We are pleased to celebrate 10 years of listing derivatives on Dow Jones Index products. In particular, we are looking forward to continuing to work with Dow Jones indexes beginning in January as we offer expanded trading opportunities to our customers when Dow Jones-related index products are offered on CME Globex(r) alongside our other benchmark equity indexes."
"Renewing our commitment with Dow Jones Indexes is another important milestone in our global strategy of offering innovative and liquid benchmark contracts for our domestic and international customers," said CME Group Chief Executive Officer Craig Donohue. "Our ongoing relationship with Dow Jones allows us to continue to list the most comprehensive array of equity index derivatives products, including small-, mid- and large-cap indexes as well as some of the mostly widely used foreign indexes."
"CME Group took the lead introducing futures and options based on the most recognized index in the world, the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The exchange and its trading community have built an excellent trading environment for futures and options based on The Dow and, over the past ten years, global volume in derivatives based on all Dow Jones indexes has increased substantially. We look forward to this trend continuing as there are more opportunities to use this popular index," said Dow Jones Indexes President Michael A. Petronella.
Total Dow Jones complex average daily volume in August was 232,447 contracts, 161 percent increase versus August 2004.
The Big Dow DJIA $25 and the mini-sized Dow $5 trade electronically from 6:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Central time, Sunday through Friday. The Dow DJIA $10 trades in open outcry from 7:20 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday, as well as electronically from 6:15 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Central time, Sunday through Friday.
About CME Group
CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is the world's largest and most diverse exchange. Formed by the 2007 merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), CME Group serves the risk management needs of customers around the globe. As an international marketplace, CME Group brings buyers and sellers together on the CME Globex electronic trading platform and on its trading floors. CME Group offers the widest range of benchmark products available across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, and alternative investment products such as weather and real estate. CME Group is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ under the symbol "CME."
The Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, Globex and E-mini, are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago. Dow Jones and Dow Jones Industrial Average are trademarks of Dow Jones & Company, Inc. These trademarks are used herein under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.
About Dow Jones Indexes
A full-service index provider, Dow Jones Indexes develops, maintains and licenses indexes for use as benchmarks and as the basis of investment products. Best known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones Indexes also is co-owner of the Dow Jones STOXX indexes, the world's leading pan-European indexes, and together with Wilshire Associates, provides the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Index family, which is anchored by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and covers more than 12,000 securities in 59 markets. Beyond equity indexes, Dow Jones Indexes maintains a number of alternative indexes, including measures of the hedge fund and commodity markets. Dow Jones indexes are maintained according to clear, unbiased and systematic methodologies that are fully integrated within index families. www.djindexes.com
Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ) (dowjones.com) is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch.com, eFinancialNews and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Dow Jones Client Solutions, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. Dow Jones owns 50% of SmartMoney and 33% of STOXX Ltd. and provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
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