Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox is urging the six major options exchanges to start quoting some of their options in pennies. In a statement, Cox said, “Quoting in penny increments will benefit investors by allowing options quotes and orders to be expressed at better prices, and has the potential to enhance further the already strong competition and innovation that exists in the options market.” Cox appears to be preaching to the converted, as a number of the options exchanges already have said they favor the penny plan, which would put the options market in line with the way underlying stocks already have been traded for the past five years. Cox suggests rolling out first a limited number of options so as not to overload exchanges, market data vendors and securities firms whose systems need to accommodate the increased “quote message traffic.”