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Volatility Views 40: Manipulating the VIX

by Volatility Views | Feb 13, 2012 | Brokerage Information, Volatility Views

Volatility Review: Euro vol review. March Euro VolContract has an interesting phenomenon brewing — realized vol calculation is 7.93, and the inferred volatility is 10.84. How or where will they meet? Major correlation break in VIX/S&P 500.Volatility Viewpoint: Not afraid of controversy, the panel discusses the notion of VIX settlement price manipulation with Henry Schwartz, founder and CEO of Trade Alert.Crystal Ball: Short VIX going into the weekend, but then watch out for the unknown unknown. Don makes a shaky prediction that the Euro vol will dip lower.

Volatility Views 40: Manipulating the VIX

by Volatility Views | Feb 13, 2012 | Volatility Views

Volatility Review: Euro vol review. March Euro VolContract has an interesting phenomenon brewing — realized vol calculation is 7.93, and the inferred volatility is 10.84. How or where will they meet? Major correlation break in VIX/S&P 500.Volatility Viewpoint: Not afraid of controversy, the panel discusses the notion of VIX settlement price manipulation with Henry Schwartz, founder and CEO of Trade Alert.Crystal Ball: Short VIX going into the weekend, but then watch out for the unknown unknown. Don makes a shaky prediction that the Euro vol will dip lower.

Option Block 127: Predicting Facebook’s First Day Closing Price

by Option Block | Feb 10, 2012 | Option Block

Trading Block: Apple is back to the races following the Nortel patent news — up 10% post earnings and vol popping to the upside. Groupon down 14% – AGAIN. Cisco earnings were decent, but is the worst over? CBOE announces record volume numbers – stock shrugs in response. Activision out after the bell – now trading close to $13. LinkedIn after the bell as well. Tis the season to trading earnings long premium. Odd Block: Unusual activity in IROBOT, (IRBT) AMDOCS LTD – (DOX), and a RENN review from Jan 30. Xpress Block: Jon Grigus talks Facebook, its upcoming IPO, and poses the question "What will Facebook's closing price be on the first day of trading?" LISTENER QUESTION If a brokerage says the fee for option assignment is $20, is that per share, per contract (100 shares) or per order? So if I have 10 contracts of 100 shares each, do I pay 2000, 200, or 20 assuming they are all assigned? Around the Block: Upcoming earnings: GM 2/16 – Marriott 2/15 – NVDA 2/15 – TSLA 2/15. A final rundown of the earnings that came out today.

Option Block 127: Predicting the Facebook First Day Closing Price

by Option Block | Feb 10, 2012 | Radio Show

Trading Block: Apple is back to the races following the Nortel patent news — up 10% post earnings and vol popping to the upside. Groupon down 14% – AGAIN. Cisco earnings were decent, but is the worst over? CBOE announces record volume numbers – stock shrugs in response. Activision out after the bell – now trading close to $13. LinkedIn after the bell as well. Tis the season to trading earnings long premium. Odd Block: Unusual activity in IROBOT, (IRBT) AMDOCS LTD – (DOX), and a RENN review from Jan 30. Xpress Block: Jon Grigus talks Facebook, its upcoming IPO, and poses the question "What will Facebook's closing price be on the first day of trading?" LISTENER QUESTION If a brokerage says the fee for option assignment is $20, is that per share, per contract (100 shares) or per order? So if I have 10 contracts of 100 shares each, do I pay 2000, 200, or 20 assuming they are all assigned? Around the Block: Upcoming earnings: GM 2/16 – Marriott 2/15 – NVDA 2/15 – TSLA 2/15. A final rundown of the earnings that came out today.

Option Block 126: VIX: You Do Not Have To Go Home, but You Cannot Stay Here

by Option Block | Feb 7, 2012 | Radio Show

Trading Block: VIX creeping up off concerns of Greek debt weighing on the market again. Greece reportedly eliminating 15,000 jobs. NYSE/Deutsche Boerse deal was killed last week by the EU ? there will be no mega combination of three different options exchanges. Odd Block: Unusual activity in: Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), and Solarwinds Inc. (SWI). Xpress Block: Tim Navabi discusses recently active and popular names out on the trading floor. Listener Mail: I want to be long the VIX or VX, what is the best way to do this? Around the Block: A big earnings week ahead: Disney 2/7 AMC; Cisco 2/7 AMC; CBOE 2/9 BMO; Activision 2/9 AMC; Groupon 2/8 AMC; LinkedIn 2/9 AMC.

Volatility Views 39: Redefining Normal

by Volatility Views | Feb 6, 2012 | Volatility Views

Volatility Review: How low can vol continue to go? Dancing around 17 in VIX cash. We have finally reached perfect equilibrium. The last 22 trading days of realized volatiity was 6.73 for the S&P, the lowest Don has remembered since 1994. Lofty numbers have skewed people's ideas of "normal," and it's time to reassess the definition of it. Expiration day for the February Euro VolContract.Volatility Viewpoint: Mark, Mark, and Don discuss volatility correlation, overlays for equity portfolios, and several other uses for volatility products with Simon Acomb, from Acomb Financial Research, Ltd.Crystal Ball: Dipping into the murky depths of volatility. Mark S. sees a flattening of the VIX yield curve, and thinks it makes sense to isolate gamma and short VIX using S&P versus VIX futures. Don provides insightful Euro vol picks.

Volatility Views 39: Redefining Normal

by Volatility Views | Feb 6, 2012 | Volatility Views

Volatility Review: How low can vol continue to go? Dancing around 17 in VIX cash. We have finally reached perfect equilibrium. The last 22 trading days of realized volatiity was 6.73 for the S&P, the lowest Don has remembered since 1994. Lofty numbers have skewed people's ideas of "normal," and it's time to reassess the definition of it. Expiration day for the February Euro VolContract.Volatility Viewpoint: Mark, Mark, and Don discuss volatility correlation, overlays for equity portfolios, and several other uses for volatility products with Simon Acomb, from Acomb Financial Research, Ltd.Crystal Ball: Dipping into the murky depths of volatility. Mark S. sees a flattening of the VIX yield curve, and thinks it makes sense to isolate gamma and short VIX using S&P versus VIX futures. Don provides insightful Euro vol picks.

Option Block 125: When Squishy Becomes a Technical Term

by Option Block | Feb 3, 2012 | Radio Show

Trading Block: Is it too risky to actively short volatility in this environment? Andrew thinks that, from a volatility point of view, all things are pointing in the same direction. Earnings plays. What's the deal with Amazon? Chipotle, or stealth Apple, is nothing but classy. Andrew gives taqueria recommendations in San Francisco. All is right in the world, so it's time to buy stocks.Odd Block: Unusual activity in Zynga, Inc., Facebook is spreading the love.Xpress Block: John Grigus discusses the IPO process, and the confusion around when the stock will actually trade. Tax season updates on 1099's.Around the Block: Non-farms payrolls released on Friday before the open. Andrew suggests an ADP indicator. Earnings still coming out: Activision, CBOE, CSCO, Groupon.

Option Block 124: Confessions of a Juice Buying Junkie

by Option Block | Jan 31, 2012 | Radio Show

Trading Block: It was a calm day in volatility, given that it has been beaten up recently. What effect does Greece's financial woes has on our market anymore? The precious Metals market pulls back, affected by China. The yellow Wiggle is out: Australia is in turmoil! The biggest kids brand is in the toilet, sold Wiggles sold!!! Scalping tech Vol. Odd Block: Unusual activity in Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Cell Therapeutics Inc. (CTIC) (an odd block special!), and RenRen Inc. (RENN). It looks like Facebook love is spreading to RENN.Mail Bag: The weekly butterfly risk and reward Around the Block: Earnings: Amazon coming out after the close tomorrow. Numbers: Non-Farms on Friday, this week we might see some numbers pop.

Volatility Views 38: The Great Skew Debate

by Volatility Views | Jan 30, 2012 | Volatility Views

Volatility Review: What is going on with the VIX? How low can it go? Sebas sees VIX going to 16. Don gives a Euro VolContract update, noting the equity-like behavior (underlying increased, while vol dropped). Looking forward to the Nasdaq 100 VolContracts.Volatility Viewpoint: Mark, Mark, and Don discuss volatility and skew with John Bilson, Professor of Finance at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Stuart School of Finance. Professor Bilson also proposes two new types of contracts for the marketplace.Crytsal Ball: Right now, there are good opportunities to buy individual equity options because volatility is so low. Mark Sebastian uses AAPL as an example. The impact of the leverage effect. Don thinks that the vol levels on the Euro VolContracts look just about right.

Volatility Views 38: The Great Skew Debate

by Volatility Views | Jan 30, 2012 | Volatility Views

Volatility Review: What is going on with the VIX? How low can it go? Sebas sees VIX going to 16. Don gives a Euro VolContract update, noting the equity-like behavior (underlying increased, while vol dropped). Looking forward to the Nasdaq 100 VolContracts.Volatility Viewpoint: Mark, Mark, and Don discuss volatility and skew with John Bilson, Professor of Finance at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Stuart School of Finance. Professor Bilson also proposes two new types of contracts for the marketplace.Crytsal Ball: Right now, there are good opportunities to buy individual equity options because volatility is so low. Mark Sebastian uses AAPL as an example. The impact of the leverage effect. Don thinks that the vol levels on the Euro VolContracts look just about right.

Option Block 123: Like a Virgin

by Option Block | Jan 27, 2012 | Radio Show

Trading Block: Apple blows the doors off earnings again ? long premium going into earnings was the way to play it. JC Penney up $6.50 today, but is it best to still keep a short position? Netflix on the comeback trail? Odd Block: Unusual activity in Deutsche Bank AG (DB) and DeVry Inc. (DV).Xpress Block: Tim Navabi breaks down the recent activity at OX. Have the recent round of earnings and a move to the upside started to lure back degenerate premium sellers back to Netflix? Have people continued to dive back into the short end of Google? Strategy Block: In this rare opportunity, Mark Sebastian takes over the strategy block to discuss what he thinks about the VIX.Around the Block: Keeping an eye on Ford and Apple – again. Very interesting to see oil still around the 100 mark – gold and silver are also moving. Earnings: Jan 31 – Amazon, Feb 1 – Chipotle (stealth Apple), Exxon Mobile & UPS – next week.