Options Data...And Then SomeOptions Data...And Then Some

Academic researchers now have unprecedented access to historical data on stock options, thanks to an arrangement between the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and options research firm OptionMetrics.

Wharton has licensed OptionMetrics' Ivy database, which features 35 Gbytes of data on all U.S. equity and index options collected since January 1996. The options data will be available to academic institutions through the Wharton Research Data Services system for $30,000 a year. Why pay to access such information? Says Michael Boldin, director of the system, "We make available stuff that no one wants to store."