Options LiquidityMatrix January 2018

January saw monthly US options volume skyrocket by 139 million contracts compared to December 2017, due to an increase in volatility coupled with investors jumping back into the market after the year-end holiday season. The 468 million options contracts cleared in January 2018 was a record for the month of January and will help set the stage for continued growth throughout 2018. Spreads in January 2018 tightened by the same 6 cents by which they widened in December 2017 and fell back in line with the past 6 months' results. TABB Group’s monthly Options LiquidityMatrix™ analyzes the 15 US options exchanges, in addition to broader industry trends. Metrics include market share, market quality, average spread, average trade size, and volume breakdown for all options and penny options.