4/25/2002
Calendar spread options will be based on the differential between two months of trading in the same futures contract. Contracts will be available for any combination of the first four months in each commodity; any pair of consecutive months during the first 13 listed months; and the closest June/December and December/December spreads for the two crude oil contracts. At exercise, the buyer of a put options contract will receive a short position in the futures market for the closer month and a long position in the futures market for the further month. The buyer of a call options contract will receive the reverse at exercise.
Trading hours will mirror open outcry trading hours for the underlying futures contracts. These include:
Brent crude oil: 9:45 AM - 2:30 PM Light, sweet crude oil: 10 AM - 2:30 PM Natural gas: 10 AM - 2:30 PM Heating oil: 10:05AM - 2:30 PM Unleaded gasoline: 10:05 AM - 2:30 PM
These highly sophisticated instruments have been heavily demanded by the energy industry and trading community and represent the diversity of risk management strategies that are incorporated into a firm's trading portfolio. Introducing these contracts is another building block in our goal of offering a comprehensive array of tools that address the full range of industry hedging needs.