CBOE

CBOE History

1973

• CBOE is founded as first U.S. options exchange and trading begins on standardized, listed options.
  April 26, the first day of trading, sees 911 contracts traded on 16 underlying stocks.
  

1975

• Computerized price reporting was introduced.
  The Options Clearing Corporation was formed.
  The Black-Scholes model was adopted for pricing options.
  

1977

• Trading in put options begins.
  SEC places a moratorium on options expansion pending an in-depth review of the rapidly growing derivative securities market.
  

1980

• The CBOE and Midwest Stock Exchange consolidate their options businesses.
  

1981

• CBOE breaks ground in April on new 350,000 square foot building with 45,000 square foot trading floor.
  

1983

• CBOE continues to revolutionize the options industry by introducing options on broad-based stock indexes.
  On March 11, 1983, CBOE launched the CBOE-100 Index, which was later renamed the S&P 100 Index (OEX) and on July 1, 1983, options trading on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) was launched.
  

1984

• As volume accelerated rapidly, CBOE quickly outgrew its trading facilities in the Chicago Board of Trade and in February 1984, moved into its current 10-story building across the street from the CBOT and next to the Chicago Stock Exchange.
  Annual volume at CBOE exceeds 100 million contracts for the first time.
  CBOE launches its Retail Automatic Execution System (RAES) to facilitate electronic order execution.
  

1985

• CBOE forms The Options Institute, whose mission is to educate investors around the world about options.
  Options on NASDAQ stocks are listed.
  The New York Stock Exchange begins listing equity options.
  

1987

• Stock market crashes in October and interest in derivatives wanes.
  

1989

• CBOE begins trading options on interest rate products.
  CBOE introduces EBook, the first electronic customer limit order book.
  

1990

• CBOE creates Long-term Equity AnticiPation Securities, or LEAPSSM, which are long-term dated options and give investors more flexibility in using options in their portfolios.
  

1992

• The Options Industry Council is formed as an industry body devoted to the expansion of investor education.
  Sector indexes begin trading at CBOE.
  

1993

• CBOE introduces FLEX® options, which allow investors to create certain specifications on options contracts.
  Market makers on the CBOE trading floor use electronic, hand-held terminals.
  CBOE unveils the CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX®), a key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed by S&P index option prices.
  

1997

• CBOE introduces options on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJX).
  Myron Scholes and Robert Merton are awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for their development of the Black-Scholes model for pricing options.
  CBOE acquires NYSE options trading business, New York options traders move to Chicago and the CBOE's "Green Room" - an auxiliary trading floor off of the main trading floor that became the home for many transplanted NYSE traders.