Cboe Blogs

Volatility as an asset class John Deere (DE) is recently down 26c to $91.42 after farm, construction and forestry equipment maker cut its fiscal 2015 income forecast earlier in conjunction with its Q1 report. February weekly call option implied volatility is at 21, March is at 18, June is at 17; compared to its 26-week average of 20. Noodles & Company is recently down after saying 2015 earnings growth will be at the low end of range. March call option implied volatility is at 55, May is at 54,[...]

European markets turn slightly negative as Greece situation not resolved yet.  DE earnings beat lowered estimates but pared back guidance has shares off $1.25 to $90.46.  WMT said to be downgraded by Barclay's, drops $1.00 to $82.52. Gold & Oil higher, US$ higher. Watch for bumpy early session on Greece deal/no deal.  Options volume average Thursday, SPX trades over 1mm contracts. Volatility as an asset class: Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (GREK), sellers emerged in late trading,[...]

// I'm Angela Miles covering weekly options. Tomorrow, traditional options expire and next Friday Feb. 27 it's a Weekly's expiration. A busy earnings week is ahead starting Monday with SINA. The options paper is surprisingly light in the early going and the market is wide in SINA. That is likely to pick up into earnings the Chinese internet company tends to be popular with traders. The straddle at the 38 strike prices in at[...]

Happy "Year of the Sheep" to those following the Chinese calendar. One astrologer said  markets might be volatile this summer but would stabilize by the end of the year.  We'll see.  Option volume decent this morning, as ~9.6 mm contracts trade.  SPX with ~540K, VIX options 140K, AAPL clocked 400K. Stocks hit a new intra-day record (S&P 500) before giving up those gains. CAT, XOM, WMT & AXP all drop more than $1, while IBM and BA more than $1 to the plus side. [...]

Pitchers and Catchers Report (to Spring Training).  This should have warmed up traders this morning with the temperature -8 degrees in Chicago but stock futures lower. Oil getting hammered on inventory build and no signs of world economies improving.  Greece proposal on bail-in is said to be rejected,  WMT reported earnings which beat (lower tax rate helped) but guided lower (from $1.10 to $0.90 to $1.10 range) and is off $1.20.  Overseas markets flat with European stocks watching[...]

Traders watching Europe warily this morning.  Greece situation unclear and Ukraine cease-fire being ignored by rebels.  Producer Prices drop 0.8%, X-Food & Energy fell 0.1% (-0.3% and +0.1% expected).  January Housing Starts and Permits came in less than expected, and Mortgage Apps fell 13%.  CAT accounting under review by Feds, Soft opening expected. Volatility as an asset class Hilton (HLT) is down $0.70 to $27.95 in premarket as lodging company sees FY15 adjusted EPS 78c-83c,[...]

Stocks regained their footing and are now on the plus side.  Stories out of Europe of Greece taking a softer stance in negotiations with the EU are being told.   But reports of Ukraine truce in jeopardy putting damper on rally.  Economic numbers released this morning on weak side. Goodyear Tire (GT) is up $0.68 to $26.59 after reporting Q4 EPS excl items 59c, compared to consensus 58c. February call option implied volatility is at 37, March is at 27, April is at 30; compared to its[...]

After a strong move into the long weekend, stocks are retreating.  Talks collapsing in Greece are being blamed. Empire State business conditions fell over two points to 7.75, below estimates.  WM & MDT earnings bottom line beat expectations.  Oil and metals off fractionally, 10-year 2.03%. Volatility as an asset class: National Bank of Greece (NBG) is down 24c to $1.37 on Greek bailout talks with the EU. Overall option implied volatility of 136 compares to its 26-week average of[...]

The Weekly News Roundup is your weekly recap of CBOE features, options industry news and VIX and volatility-related articles from print, broadcast and online and social media outlets. A Key to Success: Education 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of The Options Institute, the educational arm of CBOE.  The exchange’s current advertising campaign shines a light on CBOE’s ongoing commitment to  helping customers better understand options trading. “How CBOE Educated Investors[...]

After an abbreviated trip into record territory, markets have given up most of the morning gains.  ~10.5mm options contracts trade by mid-day, with SPX (643K) and VIX (371K) leading the Index volume at CBOE.  RUT recorded over 51K option contracts, with SPY at 1.1mm and AAPL checked in with over 600K. The energy sector has shown the most strength in the morning session, with Utilities showing the least spark.  BIDU halts its recent slide and is up $6, GOOG adds $4.50, AMZN $3 to the[...]

// Apple officially dominates the world in terms of market cap and it’s a major play in weekly options. I’m Angela Miles reporting today on weekly options expiring this Friday, the 13th. Next Friday is a traditional options expiration. Traders and investors are taking a shine to Apple this week as the stock breaks out to new highs. Today AAPL is trading around $126. Plenty of call buyers are moving into the market[...]

Stocks push higher on calming of tensions in Ukraine.  Gold and Oil off fractionally, 10-year yield off 2-basis points.  European equities closed higher, FTSE up 9.96 points. Option activity picked in the first half of todays session.  With ~10.2 mm options contracts trading, SPX with 555K, VIX options showed 290K, 1.4mm SPY options change hands.  AAPL traded 1.25m contracts, BIDU, CSCO and GOOG options fairly busy. Baidu (BIDU) is down $9.98 to $204.72 after the Chinese internet[...]

Futures markets ignore the weak January Retail Sales report (off 0.8%, X-autos down 0.9%, December also lower by  0.9% the month before) and  move modestly higher. Weekly Claims above 300 K again. Mixed signals on Greece.  Expedia plans an offer for Orbitz.  Several earnings reports this morning.  Volatility as an asset class Tesla (TSLA) is down $15.85 to $196.87 in the premarket after reporting deliveries fell short, problems affected production. Q4 EPS of ($0.13), $0.44[...]

Markets lower on Oil retreat and uncertainty in Europe.  Small business optimism droped 2.5% in January, but is still at a high level.  Option volume slightly below average at noon CT, ~8.2 mm contracts trade.  SPX with 388K, AAPL trades roughly 1 million option contracts.  GS loses $2 points, NKE off $1.50. on the NASDAQ BIDU off $4, AAPL adds $2. AOL (AOL) is down $4.83 to $40 after reporting less than expected Q4 results and the digital content portal sees 1H15 revenue impacted[...]

Meetings in Brussels and Minsk overshadowing Q1 earnings today.  US stock futures mixed to lower, overseas markets much the same.  10-year unchanged.  Baltic Dry hitting a record low and this disturbing level starting to get attention. AOL earnings beat, revenues missed. Volatility as an asset class: PepsiCo (PEP) is up $2.86 to $101.40 in the premarket after reporting Q4 core EPS $1.12, compared to consensus $1.08. February weekly call option implied volatility is at 31, February[...]