In a pace last seen in 2007, options trading on?benchmark gauges, including the Standard & Poor?s 500 Index, are expanding as investors look to these products for downside protection after 2013’s record rally, reported Bloomberg.?
This came after reviewing 2013 OCC data which showed a record?385 million contracts on stock-indexes traded last year, constituting a 20 percent increase from 2012. This was its greatest rise in six years with indexes representing 9.4 percent of total options trading–its highest number since 2007.?
Last week, we?also took note of 2013’s options volume. ?
So what was the allure of the baskets of stocks versus individual ones? The S&P 500 did see its greatest yearly rise in 10-plus years as it rose 30 percent and greater than 1,800–a first.?
Joe Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., said via Bloomberg in late December,??The stock market has gone pretty straight up all year long. With the market at all-time highs, people maybe are shying away from individual stocks a little bit and making a broad play here.?
Some have said a correction could be coming but after Wednesday’s close, the S&P 500 closed at 1,837, down 1 (0.05%).?