One of the things I liked about working on the trading floor was no matter how bad of a day you were having, when the bell rang the day was over and after checking fills you could go home. Electronic trading and for-profit exchanges have changed all that, even the exchanges’ communications staff are working overtime.

An example of this is the two press releases we received over the weekend with varying interpretations of a Friday decision by the Delaware Chancery Court.

Both the Chicago Board Options Exchange and CME Group claimed victory in the battle over Chicago Board of Trade exercise right privileges (ERPs) after the court made its ruling. The court ruled in favor of CBOE, rejecting a motion by two CBOT members asking for a temporary restraining order to prevent CBOE from enforcing rules restricting leasing privileges of CBOT members. The court also granted a CBOE request to suspend proceedings until the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) takes action on the CBOE rule changes that claim the CME/CBOT merger extinguishes the CBOT member ERPs.

While apparent victories for CBOE, the court also offered an opinion on its authority to rule on the CBOT complaint regarding the exercise right. The opinion states, “Despite the CBOE’s urgings to the contrary, the Court retains jurisdiction to determine whether the Defendants’ actions have the operative effect of divesting the Plaintiff-class of a vested economic and property interest.”

So there will be no restraining order and the Delaware Court will wait on an SEC decision before taking up the case. As far as the spin coming from each exchange, we won’t attempt to offer a legal opinion. The market however appears to be siding with the CBOE interpretation as a CBOE seat traded today for a record $2.7 million.