(Bloomberg) -- Of all the harrowing things seen in the stock market Monday,
one was a special nightmare for investors in what has become one of the stock
market’s favorite strategies.
It’s short volatility, a bet against equity turbulence that traders have been
piling into for years, lifting assets in related exchange-traded products to more
than $3 billion, a record. Estimates of how much money is tied up in the tactic
overall vary but one estimate from Chris Cole of the Artemis Capital Advisers
hedge fund puts the total at more than $2 trillion.
....
To see how unexpected today’s events were, just look at options on the volatility gauge. The most-active VIX options on Monday were at strike prices like 15, 22, 18 and 16. VIX February calls with a 30 strike price weren’t even in the top 10 most-traded contracts.
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