Cboe Blogs

Are there no shortage if things market players need to worry about?  It's amazing how long that 'wall of worry' has been up.  Yet, the market doesn't seem to be showing it, in fact we are seeing high complacency exist, which may not be a good thing over the long haul.  But I have to believe the mountain of concern in trading markets is way overblown, and the market shows it'll continue to overcome cautious behavior.  Ideal for a market to rally further than anyone expects. We[...]

The broad stock market has continued to frustrate both bulls and bears by remaining within a trading range for quite some time.  However, today, $SPX closed at a new all-time high and thus is on the verge of an upside breakout.  While this produced much glee on CNBC, there could be problems once again if this breakout is not confirmed. The simplest confirmation would be another $SPX close at new all-time highs, and this time above the all-time intra-day high at 2125.92. Equity-only put-call[...]

The stock market weakened considerably this week, and many of the indicators are now following suit with sell signals.  But $SPX price action continues to frustrate both bulls and bears, as it refuses to trend higher or lower.   So now for $SPX, there is support at 2067 - 2072 (the April and May lows), with resistance above at 2125 (the all-time highs). Equity-only put-call ratios have deteriorated badly this week. Both ratios have rolled over to sell signals. Market breadth was the[...]

The CBOE/CBOT 10-year U.S. Treasury Note Volatility Index℠ (with a new ticker symbol: TYVIX℠ rose today (Wednesday) for the 8th trading day in a row. TYVIX measures the expected volatility of the price of 10-year Treasury Note futures. TYVIX futures also are available for investors. As shown in the charts below, since April 24, the daily closing values of the TYVIX Index rose from 4.89 to 6.53 (a 34% rise) and the interest rates on the 10-year U.S. Treasury notes rose from 1.91% to 2.23%[...]

I am often asked how I find stock in which to enter into the Iron Condor strategy.  Not every strategy works with every stock in every kind of market, but I have a set of guidelines or criteria I use when looking for those stocks. #1  use stocks you would buy 100 shares of in your retirement account #2  use very liquid stocks near $100 or higher:   Examples would be AAPL, NFLX, AMZN, GOOGL, PNRA, XOM, DIS, IBM, TSLA, LNKD, PCLN, etc. #3  If I did 4 stock Iron Condors[...]

In the game of trading there is always a rush to be the first one in or out, state it in real time and then wait to take a victory lap.  It's great fun and an ego stroke to be able to 'call that shot', whether it's a bottom or top.   Yet, these decisions are often impulsive and without much thought.  When a stock plunges for whatever reason it may seem appropriate to stick your hand in and take a slice or even a big chunk, without ever understanding the technical damage that could[...]

Over the past decade I have delivered more than 200 presentations around the world to groups of investors such as pension funds and/or investment advisors. During the presentation events I solicit feedback from investors on the topics which are of interest. Below is a list of 12 positive developments in 2015 for investors in options. CAPACITY AND LARGE NOTIONAL SIZE FOR SPX OPTIONS VOLUME Liquidity and capacity often are key concerns of institutional investors who are considering investing sizable[...]

This morning while conducting a webcast about VIX and extended hours trading I was asked a good question.  This means I didn't know the answer. Tomorrow at 7:30 Chicago time the first iteration of the 2015 First Quarter GDP number will be reported. This will be the first time this number has been released since CBOE began offering extended hours trading for VIX and SPX index options. While talking about this I was asked, “What does VIX usually do in reaction to the Advanced GDP release?”[...]

// The titans of tech dominate this week's Weeklys report. Apple, Twitter, Google, Amazon and Microsoft all have earnings coming up in the next few sessions. I’m Angela Miles covering weekly options expiring this Friday and next Friday May 1st. A big night of earning is ahead with Amazon, Google and Microsoft all reporting after the close... Amazon has been getting plenty of options paper flow going into earnings. The[...]

On Tuesday April 21 CBOE launched its first-ever trading in cash-settled options on two MSCI indexes – the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) and the MSCI EAFE Index (MXEA). Options on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the MSCI EAFE Index are designed to enable investors to efficiently hedge and manage their non-U.S. equity portfolio exposures, to diversify their portfolios, or to generate added income. $TRILLIONS IN ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT In mid-2014 the combined assets under management[...]

Market breadth is simply how many stocks are being bought vs being sold and how much volume is behind it.  Breadth is an ideal temperature gauge of the market's health at any point in time, and like most indicators is a current read of where price action is likely headed.  Basically, this is not where the money is flowing but what direction (in or out).  Coupled with other sentiment tools such as put/call ratio, volatility index, rydex ratio and polls we can get a very accurate idea[...]

Next week, specifically Tuesday April 21st, CBOE will roll out option trading on two indexes calculated by MSCI. The MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia, and Far East) and MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM) Index will be the first two of several index option markets based on the MSCI family of indexes that will have listed options available for trading at CBOE. These two new markets will give money managers an efficient method for managing risk exposure to equity markets outside the United States. There will[...]

Settlement Reminder: Today, Tuesday, April 14th is the last trading day for April in the following: VIX, RVX, VXN, GVZ, OVX, VXEEM, VXEWZ, and VXTYN futures* and options. These contracts settle tomorrow, Wednesday morning, April 15th. PLEASE NOTE:  VIX options with an expiration date of April 15th, 2015 will cease trading at 3:15 p.m. CDT today, Tuesday, April 14, 2015. These expiring options will NOT trade during the ETH session on Wednesday, April 15, 2015. * This is in contrast to VIX futures[...]

The odds may have been a bit stacked against stocks heading into last week, but the market clearly overcame them.  All told, the S&P 500 (SPX) (SPY) gained about 1.7% last week, crossing above some key moving average lines in the process, rekindling the bigger-picture rally. Can it last? There are certainly some hurdles ahead, not the least of which is the market's valuation, which is getting a bit frothy by some measures.  Higher highs are not out of the picture though, because[...]

As investors and traders try to game the Fed and their next move, we find that a lack of clarity and vision about policy once again have players on edge.  It's playing out like a game of 'chicken' and 'musical chairs' all at once, who wants to be left holding the bag when the exit doors are used, but who wants to be left out if the rallies continue?  Further, it seems everyone wants to be first and fast, but rarely does the early bird get the worm.  Trying to game the Fed's next move[...]