Cboe Blogs

Cboe Global Markets (CBOE) announced today that the Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) has filed a product certification with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to offer bitcoin futures trading. The product certification is subject to regulatory review. The impending launch date for Cboe bitcoin futures, which will trade on CFE under the ticker symbol 'XBT', will be announced shortly. Conceptually, forwards or futures contracts have existed since the time of the Babylonian empire. Ancient[...]

There are countless market/trader sayings that get bandied about depending on the macro environment (and perhaps your position). For example, who hasn’t heard? Trying to catch a falling knife The trend is your friend Dead-cat bounce Picking up pennies (used to be 1/8ths) in front of a steamroller In the options world, one truism that was likely overheard on trading desks yesterday: “volatility takes the stairs down and the elevator up”. Of late, there’s[...]

Other trades of note: ViewRay, Inc. (VRAY) at 4.61, a 1x2 Ratio Spread traded. The trader bought 900 Sept 15th 5 Calls for .50 and sold 1,800 Sept 15th 7.50 Calls at .05. They paid .40 for the package. iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) at 141.38, a Bear Put Spread traded 15,000 times. The trader bought the Aug 4th 141/138 spread paying .53. Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) at 79.87, a Bull Call Spread traded 1,000 times. The trader bought the Aug 4th 80/80.50 spread paying .22. XOM reported earnings[...]

Other trades of note: iPath S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN (VXX) at 10.99, a Bull Call Spread traded 5,888 times. The trader bought the Aug 18th 14.50/16.50 spread paying .07. Time Warner Inc. (TWX) at 100.22, a Bull Call Spread traded 2,000 times. The trader bought the Oct 20th 100/105 spread paying 2.85. TWX is expected to report earnings on Wednesday, August 2nd before market open. iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) at 143.61, a Calendar Spread traded 1,250 times. The trader sold the Jul 28th[...]

Other trades of note: Bank of America (BAC) at 24.04, a 1x2 Ratio Spread traded. The trader sold 20,000 Jul 21st 25 Calls at .05 and bought 10,000 Jul 21st 24.50 Calls for .17 cents, paying .07 on the package. BAC reports earnings tomorrow. BP p.l.c. (BP) at 35.13, a Risk Reversal traded 3,000 times. The trader sold the Sept 15th 34 Puts and bought the Sept 15th 36 Calls for a .25 credit. BP is expected to report earnings on 08/01/2017 before market open. iPath S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN[...]

Other trades of note: iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (EEM) at 43.34, a Bear Put Spread traded 15,000 times. The trader bought the Sept 15th 43/41 spread paying 50 cents. iPath S&P 500 VIX Futures ETN (VXX) at 12.07, a trader executed a Diagonal Put Spread on a 2:3 ratio. This trader sold 2,000 of the Sept 15th 14 Puts and bought 3,000 of the Dec 15th 10 Puts for a credit of 2.82 per package. Lowe’s (LOW) at 75.82, a Calendar Spread traded 4,700 times. The trader sold the Jul 21st[...]

Other trades of note: PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ) at 140.85, a Bull Put Spread traded 6,500 times. The trader sold the Aug 18th 140/130 spread for a 1.73 credit. VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) at 21.55, a Bear Call Spread traded 4,183 times. The trader sold the Dec 15th 27/32 spread for a credit of 27 cents. SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) at 31.40, a Calendar Spread traded 50,000 times. The trader sold the Sept 15th 26 Puts and bought the Nov 17th 26[...]

Other trades of note: Russell 2000 Index (^RUT) at 1406.22, a Bear Call Spread traded 1,284 times. The trader sold the Jul 14th 1,430/1,480 Call spread for a credit of 2.05. Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK) at 4.48, a Collar traded 28,000 times. The trader sold the Sept 15th 5 strike calls at 25 cents and paid 25 cents for the Sept 15th 4 strike puts. This position is tied to stock with an obligation to sell at 5.00 or the right to sell at 4.00. iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) at 139.50, a Bull[...]

  May turned out to be CBOE’s second highest volume month during the Exchange’s Extended Trading Hours options session.  Average daily volume during ETH in May was 11,763 contracts per day, surpassed only by November’s 14,118 contracts per day.  However, May’s volume was much more consistent, as opposed to the November volume which was highly concentrated in a single trading day in the wake of the U.S. Presidential election.  More market participants appear[...]

AIG options were active into expiration. There's been speculation about their search for a new CEO as well as potential stock buyback plans. AIG beat on the top and bottom line during an earnings cycle that has generally been quite strong. They also announced a $2.5 billion repurchase plan. We take a look at the Weekly ATM straddle as well as a June OTM strangle going into and coming out of the "event". Full Video below:

Today’s episode of What’s Trading details candy sales, the big business of Easter, and a July put seller in Mondelez International (MDLZ). The link to the video is below as well as additional commentary on the trade.  Click here to watch the episode and continue below to learn more about the trade. The payoff diagram below shows the potential P&L if someone was short (sold) ONE July 40 put in MDLZ for $0.77 and held the position until expiration. The maximum loss is considerable[...]

Market timing is everything in investing, but when you have an egg timer running constantly it makes your opportunity for success that much more difficult.  That is what we face as option traders.  Now, as option sellers we have the luxury of time being on our side, preferring to let options decay and take in the premium before expiration.  Premium sellers are often content with a stock moving sideways.  On the other hand, option buyers need stocks to with robust action up or[...]

The CBOE is the leader in listed Index and Equity options – and every so often there is a geopolitical event that can have reverberations in our financial markets. In just the past handful of years, we have experienced significant moves in volatility (both realized and implied) from elections and referendums, typically stemming from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. On Thursday June 23rd, a referendum will be held to decide whether or not Britain should leave the European Union. Keep[...]

Tomorrow afternoon (1 P.M. Chicago time) the market will digest the minutes from the April FOMC meeting. In advance of that release (which happens after every FOMC meeting) two (non-voting) Federal Reserve Board Presidents, John Williams (San Francisco) and Dennis Lockhart (Atlanta), both gave speeches that indicated the Fed could hike rates again as soon as June. The next FOMC meeting takes place on June 14th and 15th and includes a “Summary of Economic Projections” as well as a press[...]

The monthly Employment Situation, or Non-Farm Payroll data will be released before the market opens tomorrow (5/6). This tends to be a market moving event, and given the “data dependency” of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) and Chair Yellen’s emphasis on the health of the labor market, these are particularly meaningful data points. According to Reuters, the consensus analyst expectation calls for a net addition of 202,000 jobs in April. The unemployment rate likely[...]