CHICAGO, Ill, Nov. 3, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 491,394,154 total options contracts were exchanged in October, a 22.32 percent increase compared to last October when 401,726,200 contracts were traded. This makes October the second highest volume month on record, following August 2011's 550 million contracts.
Additionally, October 15 saw the fifth highest volume day for total options (33,501,102 contracts) and the eighth highest volume day for equity options (28,571,754 contracts). Average daily volume for October came in at 21,364,964 contracts, 22.32 percent more than the 17,466,356 contracts traded during October 2013. Year-to-date volume through October stood at 3,615,990,452 contracts compared to 3,476,600,927 contracts traded at the same point last year, representing a 4.01 percent increase.
OIC also reported equity options volume experienced an increase of 21.10 percent with 436,855,058 contracts exchanged in October compared to 360,729,625 contracts for the same year-ago period. Equity options volume on average each day in October was 18,993,698 contracts, up 21.10 percent compared to 15,683,897 contracts for the same month last year. Year-to-date equity options volume through October stood at 3,256,986,681 contracts compared to the same point last year when 3,147,981,421 contracts were traded, representing a 3.46 percent increase.
About OIC
The Options Industry Council (OIC) is an industry cooperative funded by the U.S. options exchanges and OCC. OIC's mission is to provide free and unbiased education to investors and financial advisors about the benefits and risks of exchange-traded equity options. OIC delivers its education through the Options Education Program, a structured platform offering live seminars, self-directed online courses, mobile tools, podcasts, webinars and live help. OIC's resources can be accessed online at OptionsEducation.org, via mobile app for iOS, or by phone at 1-888-OPTIONS.
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