Several leading derivatives exchanges have announced record-breaking trading volumes this week, as mounting fears of recession and financial disaster have sent investors scrambling to hedge their positions.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange announced that Wednesday September 17 was the busiest trading day in its 35 year history.
Some 9.7m contracts were traded, surpassing the previous record of 9.2m on August 16, 2007 – another day when the financial world was on the brink of panic.
Tuesday this week was the third busiest day in CBOE’s history, with 8.6m contracts traded.
A spokesperson for CBOE told Futures and Options Intelligence that: “Although the market volatility does contribute to customers’ need for price protection, we have seen good growth...