CBOT METALS COMPLEX VOLUME SURPASSES 100,000 CONTRACTS Open Interest in CBOT Precious Metals Up 59 Percent Over Total at End of April; Total Exchange Open Interest Sets New Record CHICAGO, IL, May 12, 2006 – The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT®) announced today that its 100-percent electronically traded Precious Metals complex set an all-time high, as volume reached 100,589 contracts at the close of trading yesterday. The previous record, 96,630 contracts, was set April 20, 2006. The Exchange also set two significant open interest records yesterday. The CBOT Metals complex saw open interest totals rise to a record 60,323 contracts – a 59 percent increase over the total from past month’s end. And total Exchange-wide open interest reached a record 16,421,016 contracts. Open interest represents the number of trading positions that have not yet been offset and closed at the end of a trading day. The new Metals complex volume highs were largely due to the performance of the CBOT Gold Complex, which set records across all of its contracts yesterday. Full-sized (100 oz.) Gold futures volume climbed to 55,670 contracts, and mini-sized (33 oz.) Gold futures increased to 26,127 contracts. Meanwhile, the Exchange’s Gold options contracts saw volume reach 5,471 contracts. Month-to-date, the CBOT Gold futures complex accounted for nearly 40 percent of listed Gold futures contracts traded in North America. Robert Ray, senior vice president of Business Development at the Exchange said: “These record-setting performances within the CBOT Metals Complex have made it quite apparent that the market continues to embrace the speed and trade certainty of our transparent, electronic model. We continue to play a greater role in metals price discovery, and recent increases in open interest indicate that our platform is becoming a preferred marketplace among commercial firms and asset managers.