U.S. options trading volume totaled 263.4 million contracts in August, down 10.5% from a year earlier, the first year-over-year decline since July 2003, said Angela Kotso, a spokeswoman for the non-profit Options Industry Council. Volumes have been steadily increasing for more than five years.
But 2008 still could be a record year for options volume — 2.37 billion contracts were traded through August, 30% above the level for the same period in 2007, when a record 2.8 billion contracts were traded.
Historically, options volume tends to decrease a year after the stock market enters a losing streak.
