Volatility Views 53: An Insider's View of Risk Management

Volatility Views 53: An Insider's View of Risk Management

Volatility Review: There is an extra note of tension in the market with S&P vol waiting for the other shoe to drop. NASDAQ vol is slightly higher. JPMorgan news does little to rattle VIX.Volatility Viewpoint: Today's guest, Todd Petzel, the Chief Investment Officer at Offit Capital, sits down with Mark and Don, and discusses myriad aspects of volatility and risk management. Crystal ball: Sebastian sees the market bouncing around in the short term. A safe trade may be shorting U.S. treasuries. There is still a continued contraction between implied risk premium and realized vol levels. Vol may go higher, but without anything dramatic moving it.

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Volatility Views 53: An Insider View of Risk Management

Volatility Views 53: An Insider View of Risk Management

Volatility Review: There is an extra note of tension in the market with S&P vol waiting for the other shoe to drop. NASDAQ vol is slightly higher. JPMorgan news does little to rattle VIX.Volatility Viewpoint: Today's guest, Todd Petzel, the Chief Investment Officer at Offit Capital, sits down with Mark and Don, and discusses myriad aspects of volatility and risk management. Crystal ball: Sebastian sees the market bouncing around in the short term. A safe trade may be shorting U.S. treasuries. There is still a continued contraction between implied risk premium and realized vol levels. Vol may go higher, but without anything dramatic moving it.

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Option Block 150: I Am a Trader, Not a Miracle Worker

Trading Block: Cisco moving to the downside again after disappointing earnings. Priceline brought in a lot of calls to OX after they missed their earnings mark. New tools, provided by CME, are planned to help traders spot arb opportunities between ETF options and futures options. CBOE looking at creating an Apple VIX product. Activision posts modest earnings – stock relatively unchanged. Odd Block: Unusual and interesting activity in Cisco (CSCO): Bulls piling into risk reversals. TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX): Sizable short put spread. And an April 19 activity review: A burst of call buying on CBS Corp. Xpress Block: Tim Navabi discusses the importance of futures and last trading day. Have a plan, and be prepared. Strategy Block: The baton gets passed to Mr. Lobster, Andrew Giovannazi, to discuss buying options and spreads before earnings.

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Option Block 149: Beignets, Chicory Coffee, and Facebook

Trading Block: Markets marginally changed. Thoughts on the Bloomberg article comparing it to the Markit CDX North America High Yield Index. The European issues continue. Post-elections reactions. Keeping an eye on EA after hours. Odd Block: Interesting and unusual activity in iStar Financial Inc. (SFI).Xpress Block: John Grigus discusses the grains contracts. There's been quite a hubbub between ICE and the CME. Plus, the Facebook IPO.Listener Mail: Twitter question from Jon Weitzel – What do you think about playing Jun 16 Calls with EA through their earnings? ATM straddle = $1.60. Also, the Facebook IPO coming out soon. Around the Block: Loads of earnings on the horizon: Groupon 5/14, Disney 5/8, Activision & Cisco 5/9, Nvidia 5/11, and Tesla Motors 5/9.

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Options Bootcamp 4: Selling Options

Options Bootcamp 4: Selling Options

Basic Training: Turning to the dark side! It's time to learn how to sell options. Why sell options? Time decay and theta. Collecting theta, instead of paying theta, turning an enemy into a powerful ally.Options Drills: The Covered Call Roll Call: Mark and Dan sit down with this Zecco Trading's President Michael Feser, to discuss Zecco in 2012. Given the difficulty for new retail traders in the last year, what can we see now, a full quarter into the new year? What issues may investors need to be cognizant of before coming into the market this year? Explaining the success of Zecco Share.Mail Call: Facebook questions from the Zecco community.

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Volatility Views 52: The Father of Financial Futures

Volatility Views 52: The Father of Financial Futures

Volatility Review: Listeners from last week may remember Don made a timid prediction that the realized volatility of NASDAQ could be going a bit higher, and it managed to inch up a few basis points. It was a strong down week for equities. Since this selloff was gradual, the actual market volatility was not significant. Greek and French elections this weekend may fuel some volatility moves next week.Volatility Viewpoint: Today's guest is Dr. Richard Sandor, "the father of financial futures," and Chairman and CEO of Environmental Financial Products. Dr. Sandor discusses his new book "Good Derivatives," and his storied career. He distinguishes between regulated and unregulated derivatives, discusses what it takes to create a new market, and his involvement in the issue of acid rain.Crystal Ball: There may be an increase in realized volatility on NASDAQ in the next week. Putting a cap on volatility at 20%. Upcoming elections in both France and Greece.

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Options Bootcamp 4: Selling Options

Basic Training: Turning to the dark side! It's time to learn how to sell options. Why sell options? Time decay and theta. Collecting theta, instead of paying theta, turning an enemy into a powerful ally.Options Drills: The Covered Call Roll Call: Mark and Dan sit down with this Zecco Trading's President Michael Feser, to discuss Zecco in 2012. Given the difficulty for new retail traders in the last year, what can we see now, a full quarter into the new year? What issues may investors need to be cognizant of before coming into the market this year? Explaining the success of Zecco Share.Mail Call: Facebook questions from the Zecco community.

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Volatility Views 52: The Father of Financial Futures

Volatility Views 52: The Father of Financial Futures

Volatility Review: Listeners from last week may remember Don made a timid prediction that the realized volatility of NASDAQ could be going a bit higher, and it managed to inch up a few basis points. It was a strong down week for equities. Since this selloff was gradual, the actual market volatility was not significant. Greek and French elections this weekend may fuel some volatility moves next week.Volatility Viewpoint: Today's guest is Dr. Richard Sandor, "the father of financial futures," and Chairman and CEO of Environmental Financial Products. Dr. Sandor discusses his new book "Good Derivatives," and his storied career. He distinguishes between regulated and unregulated derivatives, discusses what it takes to create a new market, and his involvement in the issue of acid rain.Crystal Ball: There may be an increase in realized volatility on NASDAQ in the next week. Putting a cap on volatility at 20%. Upcoming elections in both France and Greece.

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Option Block 148: Bizarro Day

Trading Block: Preparing for Non-farms tomorrow. Now is a great time to get out of any short premium, if it's for a small price, and moving into long VIX calls. Gold got smacked out today. Natural gas up while oil and coal and both down. Odd Block: Interesting and usual activity in Herbalife Ltd. (HLF), Green Mountain Coffee Roaster (GMCR), and earnings plays in LinkedIn (LNKD) and First Solar (FSLR).Xpress Block: Tim Navabi discusses the broker as a tool. Know what you're getting into, have your information prepared, as most important of all, listen to your broker. Strategy Block: Mike Tosaw tells a story involving the Simulated Index Concept. Moral "Is the risk justified in the decision that you're making, with the trade you're making." Around the Block: A very short block today. Looking forward to Non-Farm payrolls.

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Option Block 147: Is ZYNGA the Synthetic Facebook?

Trading Block: Most of the bleeding in the NASDAQ came from Apple, down again, and having trouble holding its highs. Denny's earning after the bell.Odd Block: Interesting and usual activity in Manitowoc Company, Inc. (MTW), and Warner Chilcott LTD (WCRX). Xpress Block: John Grigus discusses the integration of Charles Schwab and optionsXpress and the new "money move" feature. They're also getting some calls about Facebook, ie., when does the IPO go public? What might its opening price be on its first day of trading?Around the Block: TLT and its reaction to Europe. An update on Denny's. Non-farm payrolls on Friday. OIC in New Orleans this week.

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Volatility Views 51: Risk Managers: The Adults in the Group

Volatility Views 51: Risk Managers: The Adults in the Group

Volatility Review: VIX options were absolutely crushed this week. Apple after earnings and its effect on NASDAQ vol. Don and Sebastian weigh in on VVIX.Volatility Viewpoint: Volatility Views welcomes back Euan Sinclair, author and risk manager at Bluefin Trading, to discuss risk management and his work on the barrier (or first time) method for calculating volatility. Euan gives a quick sneak preview of the updates to his book. The group also discusses Euan's opinion on vol of vol, and if the universe of ETPs has dramatically affected the vol of vol.Crystal Ball: Sebastian is looking at a 14-handle in the VIX and observed that S&P realized volatility was already in the 14s and would probably maintain those levels. Now that Apple's earnings are out of the way, what to look for in the NASDAQ? Getting close to the summer doldrums.

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