1973

• CBOE is founded as first U.S. options exchange and trading begins on standardized, listed options.
• April 26, the first day of trading, sees 911 contracts traded on 16 underlying stocks.

1975

• Computerized price reporting was introduced.
• The Options Clearing Corporation was formed.
• The Black-Scholes model was adopted for pricing options.

1977

• Trading in put options begins.
• SEC places a moratorium on options expansion pending an in-depth review of the rapidly growing derivative securities market.

1980

• The CBOE and Midwest Stock Exchange consolidate their options businesses.

1981

• CBOE breaks ground in April on new 350,000 square foot building with 45,000 square foot trading floor.

1983

• CBOE continues to revolutionize the options industry by introducing options on broad-based stock indexes.
• On March 11, 1983, CBOE launched the CBOE-100 Index, which was later renamed the S&P 100 Index (OEX) and on July 1, 1983, options trading on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) was launched.

1984

• As volume accelerated rapidly, CBOE quickly outgrew its trading facilities in the Chicago Board of Trade and in February 1984, moved into its current 10-story building across the street from the CBOT and next to the Chicago Stock Exchange.
• Annual volume at CBOE exceeds 100 million contracts for the first time.
• CBOE launches its Retail Automatic Execution System (RAES) to facilitate electronic order execution.

1985

• CBOE forms The Options Institute, whose mission is to educate investors around the world about options.
• Options on NASDAQ stocks are listed.
• The New York Stock Exchange begins listing equity options.

1987

• Stock market crashes in October and interest in derivatives wanes.

1989

• CBOE begins trading options on interest rate products.
• CBOE introduces EBook, the first electronic customer limit order book.

1990

• CBOE creates Long-term Equity AnticiPation Securities, or LEAPS^SM, which are long-term dated options and give investors more flexibility in using options in their portfolios.

1992

• The Options Industry Council is formed as an industry body devoted to the expansion of investor education.
• Sector indexes begin trading at CBOE.

1993

• CBOE introduces FLEX® options, which allow investors to create certain specifications on options contracts.
• Market makers on the CBOE trading floor use electronic, hand-held terminals.
• CBOE unveils the CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX^®), a key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed by S&P index option prices.

1997

• CBOE introduces options on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJX).
• Myron Scholes and Robert Merton are awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for their development of the Black-Scholes model for pricing options.
• CBOE acquires NYSE options trading business, New York options traders move to Chicago and the CBOE's "Green Room" - an auxiliary trading floor off of the main trading floor that became the home for many transplanted NYSE traders.

1998

• CBOE and options industry celebrate 25th anniversary.
• CBOE annual volume surpasses 200 million contracts for the first time.

1999

• CBOE converts to Designated Primary Market Maker system, ensuring that specialists maintain fair and orderly markets and always provide continuous, two-sided markets.
• CBOE introduces ROS, the Rapid Opening System, significantly shortening the time taken for the opening rotation.

2000

• SEC adopts CBOE plan to link U.S. options markets.
• CBOE average daily volume exceeds 1 million contracts for the first time.
• Annual volume at CBOE surpasses 300 million contracts for the first time.

2001

• CBOE launches CBOEdirect®; the exchange's screen-based trading system that is initially used for extended hours trading.
• Securities industry completes transfer from fractional pricing to pricing in decimals - narrowing spreads and reducing costs for investors.
• Interim intermarket linkage among the options exchanges begins.
• CBOE develops the VXN Volatility Index (VXN), based on the Nasdaq-100 Index and a complement to the VIX volatility index.

2002

• CBOE continues expansion of electronic trading systems.
• CBOE begins development of a Hybrid Trading System that will marry the strengths of open outcry trading with the efficiencies of screen-based trading.
• The CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (BXM^SM) is introduced as the first major benchmark for options performance in a study by a Duke University professor.

2003

• CBOE debuts CBOE Hybrid, the Hybrid Trading System.
• CBOE and the other options exchanges successfully complete their Intermarket Linkage Program.
• CBOE celebrates the 20th anniversary of index options trading and the 30th anniversary of the exchange and industry.

2004

• The Ibbotson Associates consulting firm published a case study on use of S&P 500 (SPX) options in a buy-write strategy.
• The CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (BXM) was named Most Innovative Benchmark Index, and CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX^®) Futures won Most Innovative Index Derivative Award at the 2004 Super Bowl of Indexing Conference.
• The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) launched trading with futures on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) on March 26, 2004.

2005

• CBOE options contract volume was an all-time record of 468,249,301 contracts (up 30% over the previous year), and the notional value of this volume was more than $12 trillion.

2006

• CBOE options contract volume was an all-time record of 674,735,348 contracts (up 44% over the previous year).
• The Callan Associates consulting firm published a study on the use of S&P 500 (SPX) options in a buy-write strategy.
• CBOE is named Exchange of the Year, North America for excellence and innovation by Structured Products magazine
• CBOE won the 2006 Exchange Performance Award—World's Best Derivatives Providers—provided by Global Finance magazine.
• Options on the CBOE Volatility Index won Most Innovative Index Derivative Award at the 2006 Super Bowl of Indexing Conference.

2007

• CBOE options contract volume was an all-time record of 944,471,924 contracts (up 40% over the previous year).
• The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 94.6%, its biggest % move in any calendar year.
• In their first full year of trading, options on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) became the CBOE's second-busiest cash-settled index option contract with an average daily volume of 93,181 contracts.
• Avg. daily volume for S&P 500 (SPX) options rose 52% to a record 629,819 contracts.
• The CBOE Stock Exchange (CBSX) launched trading on March 5, 2007.
• The Fund Evaluation Group (FEG) published a study entitled "Evaluation of BuyWrite and Volatility Indexes-Using the CBOE DJIA BuyWrite Index (BXD) and the CBOE DJIA Volatility Index (VXD) for Asset Allocation and Diversification Purposes."
• New Portfolio Margin rules for equity options and other positions become effective in April 2007.
• The CBOE S&P 500 PutWrite Index (PUT) was named Most Innovative Benchmark Index at the 2007 Super Bowl of Indexing Conference.

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