CME Adding ES Wednesday Weeklys

It was only a matter of time, and is no surprise to anyone. Link Given half-year delay I predict CME Monday weeklys Q1 2017.

In Case You Missed It - SPX Monday Weeklys

Somehow I missed the press-release or other news sources, but earlier this week CBOE listed Monday-expiring weekly options. Right now 3 expirations are listed: Monday August 22nd, 29th, and Tuesday September 6th.

Volume, open interest, and bid-ask spreads look reasonable for just-launched series, and I believe this product is already a success.

Now, with 3 regular expirations per week, it is only a question of time when CBOE will have options expiring every day of the week. The challenge is not in the product itself, but rather in technological barriers - market making software, increased network traffic, etc. I expect that we will not see another weekly expiration for another year.

I would also speculate that perhaps the next launch will be in the VIX series, maybe Friday PM settled VIX options?

Regulators Getting It Right: Belgium Bans Binary Options, Leveraged CFDs

Top Belgian securities regulator, the Financial Services and Markets Authority announced in a recent communique, that distribution of binary options, leveraged CFDs, and ultra-short (<1 hour) derivatives contracts. Apparently there is some question regarding the exact translation (link), and since I don't know french or dutch I cannot comment on that.

Everyone in the industry knows that binary options is a festering pool of fraud, and responsible for much of spam marketing on the internet. I applaud actions of FSMA, and hope that more regulators around the word will follow suit.