The Chicago Board Options Exchange has set 1 June as the launch-date for CBOEdirect, its screen-based trading system.
According to Bill Brodsky CBOE chairman and chief executive, the system will operate ahead of the open only for trading in Standard & Poor's 100 Index options and options on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 index.
The initiative was developed in response to the May 2000 launch of the all-electronic International Securities Exchange. It was initially envisioned as an out-of-hours trading system, operating both before the open and after the markets close. A spokeswoman says the exchange is now unsure "if or when" CBOEdirect will be activated for after-hours trading.
The CBOE already fills some 40 percent of its orders through its retail automated execution system.