Monkey business may have gone on in options trading of Tele-Communications in the days before the deal, for example.

But options trading suggests that someone had advance knowledge of coming problems.

By coincidence, options trading began on a day when many investors felt they badly needed a hedge against a down market.

In fact, the options trading is the first of a series of new financial products scheduled to be introduced here in the next few months.

In one instance, even when a client had specifically requested that the options trading be stopped, it continued.

For one thing, the cost of options trading has gone up.

And he said that index futures and options trading was no longer novel, as it was in the 1980's.

A new computer system for options trading has been agreed on by four of the five exchanges that trade stock options.

The stock did not move much, but the options trading was heating up.

Of course, options trading cannot take place in any meaningful volume if investors cannot hedge their positions by selling short.