After US options trading set a new record in May, June has been quieter, with 311.2m contracts cleared by the Options Clearing Corporation – 2% less than in June 2009 and 23% down from the 405.9m traded in May.
June has therefore slowed the growth trend of the first half of 2010, but not enough to prevent the six month period getting into the record books – the year to date total has exceed 2bn contracts for the first time.
With 2.014bn options traded so far, 2010...