• Typical Trader: Male, 45-64 and college educated
• 61 percent execute more than 5 contracts per trade
• 74 percent reported investing in options for short term gains

CHICAGO, Jan 22, 2008 — OptionsHouse, Inc. ("OptionsHouse"), an online retail and institutional brokerage firm, today announced the results of its first annual survey that reveals the characteristics and trading habits of online options investors; and what they seek from an online options broker.

The survey, titled "The OptionsHouse 2008 Online Options Investor Study", which was conducted by Chicago-based Monogram Group on behalf of OptionsHouse. Among the survey's key findings, 60 percent of respondents said they are trading more than they were 12 months ago. Seventy-nine percent of traders reported online trading is not their primary source of income. And only 10 percent said they find options trading stressful.

Of the 720 options traders who completed the online survey in November, 2007, most said they traded options for a variety of reasons, including:

• 74 percent said they do so for short term gains
• 59 percent said they invest in options as an alternative to buying stock
• 34 percent said they trade as an investment hedge

Options investors share many traits, such as age, gender and education, the survey found:

• 91 percent of options traders are men
• 57 percent of options traders are between 45 and 64 years of age
• 76 percent are college graduates (32 percent have graduate degrees)
• 60 percent have traded options for 5 years or less
• 44 percent of traders have been with an online options firm for less than 2 years
• 27 percent are retired
• 56 percent reported a household income of greater than $100,000

Scott Brueggeman, chief marketing officer of OptionsHouse, commented: "With the rapid growth and change taking place in the options industry, we felt it was time to assess the behavior and demographics of options traders. We found it encouraging that online options investors are executing more trades than they were 12 months ago. The survey also showed options trading is gaining wider acceptance among individual investors."

"At the same time, the industry needs to educate younger investors and women if it is to grow faster," Brueggeman said. "There is an opportunity to expand the options investing community beyond men in their 40's and 50's."

Online Brokerage Accounts

According to the OptionsHouse survey, there are core features that online options traders seek from their brokerage firm. On a scale from 1-10 (where 1 is not at all important and 10 is very important), the following features were rated as a 9 and 10 (top 2 box).

• 84 percent of respondents view "real time" quotes as being very important
• 80 percent reported "reliable execution" as very important
• 69 percent viewed "customer service" as very important
• 67 percent reported "low flat-rate pricing" as being very important
• 60 percent said that "overall least expensive commissions" as being very important

"These results show that an online options broker must, at the bare minimum, provide a reliable and transparent site to compete in the marketplace," Brueggeman said. "Online features such as 'real time data feeds', 'real time quotes' and 'strong security' proved to be important as well as low, flat-rate pricing."

Monogram Group, which conducted the survey, is a Chicago-based market-research firm that specializes in building brands and positioning middle-market companies.

Press Contact

OptionsHouse, LLC
Beth Gaston Moon
312-676-8800
bmoon@peak6.com

About OptionsHouse:
OptionsHouse, LLC, is an online stock and option broker delivering a fast, streamlined trading experience on its professional-grade trading platform, accessible at OptionsHouse.com. OptionsHouse's flat-rate commission structure offers online trading of $9.95 per option trade and $4.95 per stock trade, with no escalating fees, regardless of size.*

In Barron's 2008 survey of Online Brokers, OptionsHouse earned a four-star rating and its innovative platform was ranked number-one for "usability."¹ A licensed FINRA broker-dealer, OptionsHouse, LLC was founded in 2005 and is a subsidiary of proprietary option-trading firm, PEAK6 Investments, L.P.

About PEAK6:
Established in 1997, PEAK6 Investments, L.P. ("PEAK6") is a leading financial institution in Chicago with an established track record of success in proprietary trading. PEAK6 is also rapidly expanding its commercial focus to include innovative initiatives in asset management and online media.