Notice to Members
Notice No. 53
02/12/2001
Options Expiration Operational Procedures for the Trading Floor and Clearing Members
The expiration date for the March 2001 options contract for Gasoline-Crack (CGH1) and Heating Oil-Crack (CHH1) is Friday, February 16, 2001.

GENERAL OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES
All Clearing Members and Qualified Floor Traders that carried an options position as of the close of business day prior to the expiration day, or engaged in trading activity on Expiration Day in the expiring options contract will be required to have a knowledgeable, duly authorized representative present at their normal work station promptly at 5:30 p.m. until released by the Exchange staff as specified below. All adjustments and/or corrections, must be accompanied by relevant supporting documentation prior to being incorporated into expiration processing, in essence making the expiration processing an extension of the afternoon trade resolution procedures. All input to the NYMEX Clearing Department will conclude no later than 30 minutes after floor representatives are released.

Exchange Clearing (299-2110), Floor Trade Correction (299-2068 and 299-2169) personnel, as well as a representative of the Floor Committee will be available to assist with the processing of notices of Exercise and Abandonment, position transfers, trade corrections and other questions or problems you may have.

CLEARING DEPARTMENT OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES

The Option Expiration process is a screen based process for which all information is provided on the screens on C21 terminals. No Option Expiration Reports will be provided. The following screens will assist you through the Option Expiration process:

MEMBER TRADE INQUIRY

Contains real-time top day trade information, trade information for the previous 4 business days and trades adjusted for the previous 4 business days by adjustment date.

SINGLE POSITION MAINTENANCE

Contains a real-time snapshot for each option series from the start of day position to the projected end of day position.

REVIEW ACCEPT REJECT TRANSFERS

Contains all trade and position transfers "TO" your firm and the status of each transfer.

REVIEW SUBMITTED TRANSFERS

Contains all trade and position transfer "FROM" your firm and the status of each transfer.

EXERCISE NOTICE SUBMISSION

Contains your available long position and an input field to enter the number of long positions you wish to exercise.

DO NOT EXERCISE SUBMISSION

Contains your available long position and an input field to enter the number of long positions you wish to abandon.

POSITION CHANGE SUBMISSION

PCS may be submitted either by manual input or by electronic transmission. Any PCS input on a Clearing 21 terminal will be the input processed by the system. This input may be made at any time prior to 6:45 p.m. Any PCS input via transmission for that contract series will be disregarded.

ALL POSITIONS ARE DEEMED FINAL

Upon completion of all PCS input, all positions will be deemed final.

EXERCISE/ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION

Will be available to you on the Single Position Maintenance window by contract series or the Assignment List window which contains all your Assignments on one window. You will be notified of its availability by C21 E-Mail and by Fast Facts. This should occur within 1 hour of the last PCS input.

All Clearing Members are required to have an authorized representative(s) at their C21 workstations in preparation for any communication during the expiration process.

FAST FACTS

Clearing Members should call the Fast Facts information service 301-4871, access code 700 for event messages advising Members of the event status.

E-MAIL

Clearing Members should read their C21 E-Mail messages immediately to be aware of event status.

The standard event Fast Facts and/or E-Mail messages and the sequence in which they will be announced are:

STANDARD EVENT
MESSAGES		 APPROXIMATE TIME
OF MESSAGE
AVAILABILITY		 USUAL TIME FAST FACTS (F)
E-MAIL (E)
BOTH (B)
Announce Out-of-the
Money Exercise and In-the-Money
Do Not Exercise Submissions
5:45 PM
5:45 PM
F
Announce Final Input to C21
Cutoff Time
6:30 PM
6:45 PM
E
All positions are deemed final
7:30 PM
6:45 PM
F
Announce Exercise/Assignment
Information Available on the Single Position Maintenance Windows
8:25 PM
8:30 PM
B
All Report Distribution is
completed
11:00 PM
11:00 PM
F
The times appearing in the Usual Event Time column are based on normal operational conditions and could vary.

TIME ACTIVITY EVENT REFERENCE NUMBER
3:30 PM Exercise Notice Submission Input to C21 Cutoff Time
1
  Do Not Exercise Submission Input to C21 Cutoff Time
2
3:45 PM Announce Out-of-the Money Exercise and
In-the-Money Do Not Exercise Submissions		 Fast Facts Notice
3
4:55 PM Announce Final Input to C21 Cutoff Time C21 E-Mail
4
5:10 PM Final Input to C21 Cutoff Time  
5
5:10 PM All Positions are Deemed Final Fast Facts Notice
6
6:30 PM Announce Exercise/Assignment Information Available on the Single Position Maintenance Windows Fast Facts Notice and C21 E-Mail
7
Should you have any questions or require any further information, please contact exchangeinfo@nymex.com