Notice to Members

Notice No. 471
12/14/2004

Exchange Early Closing Schedule for December 23, 2004 and December 30, 2004

Please be advised that the Exchange will close markets earlier on Thursday, December 23 and Thursday, December 30, 2004, the business days preceding Christmas Day and New Years Day respectively. The following early contract closing schedule will be implemented:

NYMEX DIVISION

Commodity	Closing Range
Palladium Futures	11:58 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Platinum Futures and Options	12:08 p.m. - 12:10 p.m.
Propane Futures	**12:13 p.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Heating Oil Futures and Options	*12:58 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Gasoline Futures and Options	*12:58 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Light, Sweet Crude Oil Futures and Options	12:58 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Henry Hub Natural Gas Futures and Options	12:58 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Gasoline & Heating Oil Crack Options	12:58p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Calendar Spread Options	12:58p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Average Price Options (APO)	*12:58 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

COMEX DIVISION

Commodity	Closing Range
Aluminum Futures and Options	11:59 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Copper Futures and Options	12:04 p.m. - 12:05 p.m.
Silver Futures and Options	12:04 p.m. - 12:05 p.m.
Gold Futures and Options	12:09 p.m. - 12:10 p.m.

The NYMEX Division Trade Processing Area will close at 3:00 p.m., the allocation system within TMS will be available until 5:15 p.m. The COMEX Division OLTE System will be available for corrections until 2:30 p.m. In the event that you require additional time to process work, or have questions regarding early close procedures, please call the floor operations department.

* Last Trading Day Spot Month - Half Hour Closing Range (12:30 pm – 1:00 pm)
** Last Trading Day Spot Month - Half Hour Closing Range (11:45 am – 12:15 pm)

Note: All e-miNY^sm contracts open and close simultaneous with their corresponding big contract.
All NYMEX ACCESS® and NYMEX ClearPort^sm contracts will close at 1:00 PM.

Should you have any questions or require any further information, please contact exchangeinfo@nymex.com