Record 1 Billion Options Traded at CME Group in 2019

By Derek Sammann

What do CME Group options on futures have in common with the blades of grass on two and a half football fields, or the chicken wings consumed by Americans during the big game each year?

The number 1 billion.

During 2019, total options volume at CME Group surpassed 1 billion total contracts traded for the first time. That’s an average of more than 4 million contracts traded each day across every investible asset class. And, 2019 marked the seventh consecutive year of year-over-year average daily volume (ADV) growth, making CME Group one of the largest and fastest-growing multi-asset class options exchanges globally.

While this was a milestone year, it’s the culmination of many years of listening to our customers and providing the tools, technology and education they need to make options a part of their trading strategy.

As global head of commodities and options, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in 2019 on behalf of our clients. Our markets exist, first and foremost, to help our clients manage risk. And our clients continue to use CME Group options due to the flexibility, precision and efficiencies they offer for hedging and trading.

While there were a number of factors that contributed to the growth of our options in 2019, here are a few highlights:

• Increased global access – We continue to invest in technology enhancements and to grow electronic access to our options markets on CME Globex, including through our CME Direct front end. As a result, we saw significant increases in options trading volume during non-U.S. hours – up 27% to over 629,000 contracts traded on average each day in 2019. And 64% of options traded electronically on CME Globex last year.
• Precision trading – In 2019, customer demand for short-dated options for precision trading remained strong – 650,000 weekly options traded on average per day last year, accounting for 16% of all options ADV. We continue to offer clients an extensive range of options expirations in all global benchmark products – from Mid-Curves to Weekly Options to Calendar Spread Options – that enable precision trading and hedging around major, market-moving events.
• Enhanced functionality and robust spreading capabilities – In 2019, we continued to invest in our advanced functionality that enables traders to build and execute custom options strategies, such as spreads, covered or other strategies. As a result, a record 65% of CME Globex options were traded as spreads last year.
• Tools and analytics – Our clients can access a wide range of free options pricing and analytics tools from QuikStrike, which make it possible for traders of all types to build and refine their strategies. In fact, we recently introduced the CME Globex Trade Browser tool so traders can gain insight into electronic options flow with intra-day and one-week historical CME Globex trade data showing most active strategies, quantity and price. 
• Options education – It’s never been easier for traders of all experience levels to challenge their knowledge of options on futures. Through free, educational resources like CME Institute and Active Trader, traders can access online courses, market commentary and even a trading simulator to enhance their options expertise.

Looking ahead, I’m excited about all the ways we’ll continue serving our options clients in 2020. Already in the first few weeks of the year, we’ve launched CME SOFR options and CME Bitcoin options, giving clients more tools to manage price risk and get exposure to these markets.

For a detailed breakdown of options trading last year, please check out our 2019 Options Review.