Penny Pricing By the Numbers - Part Two

• IWM experienced the largest increase in contract volume, so it's hardly surprising that IWM also experienced the largest increase in quote traffic (up a stunning  123%).

• SUNW experienced the largest decrease in quote traffic (down 17%).

• Quote traffic in all penny products (excluding QQQQ) increased 45%.

• Spreads in all penny products (excluding QQQQ) decreased 50%.

• The average transaction size in the penny products (excluding QQQQ) decreased 81%.

• Contract volume in the penny products (excluding QQQQ) increased 37%.

• The current maximum capacity for the OPRA system is 459,000 messages per second. OPRA continues to increase that capacity in anticipation of more products being added to the Penny Pilot.
  

• OPRA has yet to be pushed to its full capacity. However, during the Penny Pilot, quote traffic peaked at 212,684 messages per second, or nearly half of OPRA's capacity.
  

• As expected, OPRA set a new traffic record on February 27 with a record total of 1.75 billion messages.
  

• The current leader of the quote traffic pack is Google, which averages 26 million messages per day.
  

• When compared to the six months prior to the start of the Pilot, the average number of quotes disseminated per day is only up 1%.
  

• Despite the surprisingly low increase in overall message traffic, the one-minute traffic peak has increased by 43% during the Penny Pilot.
  

• When compared to the six months prior to the Pilot, overall industry contract volume is up 20%.

About Mark S. Longo

Mark S. Longo is the founder of The Options Insider Inc. - a firm dedicated to providing free options information, education, news and analysis for options users. Whether it's on TheOptionsInsider.com, a leading online options destination; through Options Insider Radio, the world's only radio network for options users; or through a growing number of newsletters and live events, Mr. Longo continues to provide new ways to spread the word about options.Mr. Longo's analysis of the options market has appeared in a wide variety of domestic and international publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Reuters, Futures Magazine, and more. As one of the few industry commentators with practical options experience, he has developed a substantial following among industry veterans and newcomers looking for insight into this complex market.Mr. Longo began his career as an options trader on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange.