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☆ Hefty options 'disaster hedges' draw buyers as US stocks extend rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A street sign for Wall Street hangs in front of the New York Stock Exchange May 8, 2013. Some 100,000 January call options on the Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX) changed hands on Friday, with a strike price of 27. Similarly large positions in January VIX options were opened on Wednesday and Thursday. The recent large trades, however, are more likely hedges on a portfolio of stocks, rather than wagers on a massive equity selloff, options strategists said. The trades are unusually large and make up about 5% of this month's overall trading volume in VIX options, according to Trade Alert data.

Persons: Lucas Jackson, Chris Murphy, Murphy, Matthew Tym, Cantor Fitzgerald, Tym, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Ira Iosebashvili Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Susquehanna Financial Group, Federal, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ Investors spurn options hedges as U.S. stock rally crushes fear
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Fear has plunged in the U.S. equity market following last week's explosive rally, and some options mavens are urging clients to stock up on portfolio protection while it's cheap. Meanwhile, the Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX), known as Wall Street's fear gauge, has tumbled to its lowest level in seven weeks. They recommended taking advantage of the drop in volatility to deploy stock replacement trades, which involve swapping long stock positions for cheap call options that would reap gains if the market continued to rally. Investors' equity positioning fell to a five-month low before last week's rally, Deutsche Bank data showed. With investors less exposed to stocks, "they don't necessarily need to be rushing to get hedges now," Murphy said.

Persons: Matthew Tym, Cantor Fitzgerald, Cantor's Tym, Chris Murphy, Murphy, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Ira Iosebashvili, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Federal, Reuters Graphics, Barclays, Treasury, Susquehanna Financial Group, Deutsche Bank, Thomson Locations: U.S, Santa

Though stocks remain near their 2023 highs, some investors now believe those factors will soon start taking a greater toll, limiting further upside. The market may be "back in the soup on the banking crisis," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services. Many investors don’t expect that calm to continue, as a battle over raising the $34 trillion U.S. debt ceiling looms. In the six rate-hiking cycles since 1984, the S&P 500 has posted an average three-month return of 8% following the peak funds rate, Goldman Sachs strategists wrote. However, the S&P 500 is already trading well above its valuation at the end of any cycle except the one ending in 2000, when the S&P 500 declined despite a Fed pause, the bank said.

☆ Wall Street 'fear gauge' options volume jumps to 4-year high as bank stocks sell off
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX), an options-based indicator dubbed the Wall Street "fear gauge," jumped as much as 6.36 points to 28.97, before closing up 2.19 points at 24.8. VIX options, used by traders to place wagers on whether stock market volatility will rise or fall in coming weeks and months, changed hands in heavy volume, with some 2.36 million contracts traded. Much of the volume on Friday was linked to traders booking profits and adjusting positions to account for the recent market moves, data showed. Betting on upside in the VIX has not been as profitable as many traders had hoped over the past year, despite a steep selloff in the stock market. That gradual pick up in volatility has kept the VIX below the 40 mark, a level associated with high fear in the market.

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