VIX

| ETF Trends

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This is a good article explaining why these products don’t work.  I’ve been railing against synthetic ETFS for some time.  What I mean by synthetic is an instrument that tries to mimic an index or futures contract and is NOT actually the index or future itself.  They just don’t work.  In fact they fail miserably for the most part.  It’s small wonder why many money managers fail because they opt out for lazy man macro decisions composing their client’s portfolios entirely from ETFs.   What Really Happened with TVIX March 23rd at 9:33am by John Spence TVIX Falls More After … Read more

Differentiating Between An Irrational Market Or Strong Bull Market Trend?

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Guest post by: Kirk Differentiating Between An Irrational Market Or Strong Bull Market Trend? These past two weeks have been tough as an options trader. Differentiating between trading an a possibly irrational market or bull market trend is sometimes very difficult to assess. We all know that the stock market can push us to extremes and then, just when we “give up” and “give in” the turn happens. Timing is really everything. Blow-off Top or Pull-Back? Most traders I talk to are in one of two schools of thought right now. Either you think this is the best shorting opportunity for the … Read more

Options Traders See Higher Volatility Ahead – Barrons.com

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Bracing for a Return of Volatility By STEVEN M. SEARS | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR Savvy options traders are taking advantage of the subdued VIX to buy low-cost protection   On Thursday, the stock market sent investors a critical message. If you failed to hear it, you missed information that matters more than the mostly rosy prognostications for the stock market in 2012 from Wall Street banks. The message: Volatile volatility is back from winter vacation, and likely here to stay for all of 2012. Even though stocks surged higher on Tuesday, the first day of the trading year, and inched higher … Read more

VIX Falls as Sentiment Turns on Wall St

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TVIX, a measure of stock market volatility, fell 5% percent to 33. The VIX traded as high as 48 Aug. 8 after staying below 20 for much of the year. VIX is the ticker symbol for the Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index, a popular measure of the implied volatility of S&P 500 index options. Often referred to as the fear index or the fear gauge, it represents one measure of the market’s expectation of stock market volatility over the next 30 day period. The VIX is quoted in percentage points and translates, roughly, to the expected movement in … Read more

Are you watching the VIX?

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Are you watching the VIX?US Major Market Sentiment + The Bulls vs. Bears Are you watching the VIX? Last week as the market sold off ahead of Quad Witching options expiration we saw a jump in volatility, as the VIX along with the market broke the range. The VIX has rallied to the mid-February high, and to the Gap Up mark in March. IMO as the VIX comes down the market may decide to rally. 1. VIX: 21.85; -0.88 2. VXN: 23.58; -0.89 3. VXO: 21.44; -0.53 4. Put/Call Ratio (CBOE): 1.19; +0.07. (12 sessions running above 1.0, Negative sentiment … Read more

The VIX, Defying Gravity. A Peek Behind the Curtain

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The VIX is pretty much color blind, it doesn’t differentiate between bullish or bearish activity. Simply put* If the market starts buying a bunch of calls (which is usually bullish), the VIX goes up…if the market starts buying a bunch of puts (which is usually a bearish trade), the VIX goes up.  Over the past years it’s usually been a lot of put buying that drove the VIX higher and higher. However now, people are using options much more as a capital enhancement tool and less as a capital preservations tool. Thus people are overwriting positions more than they ever have … Read more