SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) Tests Penny Pilot Program

Some recent news on Scottrade is the announcement of penny pilot options program. Thirteen option classes will be participating in an options Penny Pilot Program to determine if it is feasible to trade options in penny increments. During this pilot program, these options will trade in the new minimum pricing increments for a period of six months. At the end of the pilot, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) will analyze the success of the program and make a determination as to its future. See the rest of this article for the 13 option classes that will be participating in the Penny Pilot.

The 13 options classes participating in the Penny Pilot and their anticipated start dates are listed below:

Friday, Jan. 26, 2007:

WFMI - Whole Foods

Friday, Feb. 2, 2007:

GE - General Electric
MSFT - Microsoft

Friday, Feb. 9, 2007:

IWM - iShares Russell 2000
QQQQ - QQQQ
SMH - SemiConductor Holders
AMD - Advanced Micro Devices
INTC - Intel
CAT - Caterpillar
TXN - Texas Instruments
FLEX - Flextronics International
SUNW - Sun Micro
A - Agilent Tech, Inc.

The minimum increments for all classes participating in the Penny Pilot, except for the QQQQs, will be:

$0.01 for all option series below $3 (including Leaps)
$0.05 for all option series $3 and above (includes Leaps)

The minimum increment for QQQQ will be:

$0.01 for all option series no matter price (including Leaps)

For all other option classes not participating in the Penny Pilot, the quoting and trading minimum increments will continue to be:

$0.05 for all option series below $3 (including Leaps)
$0.10 for all option series $3 and above (includes Leaps)

Investor Term of the Day: WTO
World Trade Organization. An international agency which encourages trade between member nations, administers global trade agreements and resolves disputes when they arise. A member which does not follow WTO rules may face trade sanctions, and a member may appeal to the WTO Appeals Tribunal (whose ruling is binding) if they suspect wrongdoing against themselves.

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