For Immediate Release

Contact:
Melissa Jarmel
312-435-7137
news@cbot.com

CBOT FINANCIAL OPTIONS ELECTRONIC VOLUME REACHES NEW HIGH
Exchange-wide open interest surpasses 16 million contracts

CHICAGO, IL, April 20, 2006 – The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT^®) announced today that electronic options volume set a new record on Wednesday, April 19.  Further, Exchange-wide open interest reached another new milestone, surpassing 16 million contracts for the first time.

CBOT Financial options electronic volume climbed to 152,240 contracts, compared with the prior record of 125,783 contracts set on November 4, 2005.  Yesterday, nearly 25 percent of all Financial options traded at the CBOT were executed electronically, another new record.  Further, 61 percent of Financial options electronic volume was executed during daytime trading hours, between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Central Time. 

CBOT Senior Vice President of Business Development Robert Ray said, “The CBOT continues to lead the development of electronic trading of options on futures and to provide the global marketplace with extensive liquidity and trading opportunities 22 hours per day.  These latest records, as well as the high percentage of electronic options volume that was executed throughout the entire trading session, demonstrate that customers have embraced the e-cbot^® platform and its premier functionality.”

Exchange-wide open interest increased to 16,086,899 contracts in a fifth consecutive record-setting session.  Other open interest records were set by 10-Year Treasury Note futures and 30-Day Fed Funds options.

About the CBOT

As one of the leading global derivative exchanges, the Chicago Board of Trade provides a diverse mix of financial, equity, and commodity futures and options-on-futures products. Building on its 158-year history, the CBOT continues to advance into the future using the strength of deep liquidity, market integrity and member-trader expertise. Using superior trading technology in both electronic and open-auction trading platforms, the CBOT provides premier customer service to risk managers and investors worldwide. For more information visit our website at www.cbot.com.

Forward Looking Statements

In this release, our use of the words “may,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or other comparable terminology is intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in filings made by CBOT Holdings, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be obtained at its website at www.sec.gov.  We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.