The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) reported that the first CBOE seat, or membership, of the year traded for USD1,800,000, setting a new record high price for CBOE seats. The previous record was set on 6 December, when a seat was bought for USD1,775,000.
During 2006 CBOE seat prices increased over 100 percent from the first sale of the year on January 5th for $875,000, to the last trade of the year on 27 December for $1,750,000. During the year, a total of 111 CBOE seats were bought and sold.
CBOE’s Membership Department facilitates the purchase and sale of seats using an auction method in which bids and offers are submitted to the Exchange. When a bid matches an offer, a sale is made.