OBSERVATIONS
Cboe Global Markets is exploring the launch of perpetual futures tied to the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) to allow investors to directly trade the index’s cash level, a long-sought capability currently unavailable through existing VIX futures, options, or ETFs, Bernard Goyder reports for Bloomberg.. Speaking at a recent Bloomberg Intelligence conference, Cboe’s global head of derivatives, Rob Hocking, noted that while these highly leveraged instruments, which never expire and were popularized in cryptocurrency markets, could be an ideal solution for trading the VIX, the exchange requires clear regulatory guidance in the U.S. before moving forward. Even as the financial industry pushes to expand perpetual futures into traditional asset classes, Hocking emphasized that standard options still retain significant advantages over linear products, particularly regarding their asymmetric payouts and capped downside risk. ~JJL X~NOLINK
LEAD
Cboe wants to turn VIX into a never-ending trade: Crypto Daily
Omkar Godbole – CoinDesk
Perpetual futures, proposed by economist Robert Shiller in 1993 and commercialized by the crypto industry, are now being considered by Wall Street for products like the VIX, the stock market’s so-called fear gauge. Cboe is exploring perpetual futures on the VIX, still early, with no contract specs or filing, according to Bloomberg.
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Cboe Eyes VIX Perpetual Futures as Exchanges Move Beyond Crypto
Bernard Goyder – Bloomberg
Cboe Global Markets Inc. is looking at listing perpetual futures based on the Cboe Volatility Index, as US exchanges race to bring the highly levered instruments that dominate the crypto market to new asset classes. The VIX is a measure of how volatile S&P 500 options traders think the next 30 days will be. Unusually for such a widely cited metric, there is currently no way to trade the level of the index directly. That could change. Once there is more clarity about how perpetual futures are regulated in the US, Cboe will explore listing VIX perps, said Rob Hocking, global head of derivatives at Cboe.
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Market Gains Momentum after Soft Jobs Report
JJ Kinahan – Cboe
In a sign of how the markets often don’t reflect the economy, stocks moved higher and Treasury yields fell after the monthly jobs report signaled weakness that could put interest rate hikes on pause. The unemployment rate inched up to 4.2% from 4.1% as employers added 29,000 in September, well below the 89,000 Wall Street was expecting. Wage growth was soft too, with average hourly earnings up only 0.1% compared with an expected 0.3% increase. Wage growth stood at 3% on an annual basis, below the 3.4% inflation rate.
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Wall Street Loads Up on Derivatives Ahead of Toss-Up Brazil Vote
Vinicius Andrade and Barbara Nascimento – Bloomberg
Investors eager to trade on a Brazilian election that’s too close to call are prioritizing derivatives over outright bets after market favorite Flavio Bolsonaro gained ground on President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Markets are bracing for big swings in the Brazilian real, while options trading on the largest exchange-traded fund tracking the nation’s stocks has taken off. Neither candidate is expected to earn enough votes to prevail in Sunday’s first-round vote, but it will likely provide insight into how Lula — a leftist seeking a fourth term — will fare in a runoff against the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who has seen a recent rise in the polls, shrinking the incumbent’s lead.
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How Airlines Actually Hedge Higher Fuel Prices
Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway – Bloomberg
Fuel is a huge expense for airlines, and even on a good day, jet fuel prices are pretty volatile. Throw in two major wars now effecting energy infrastructure, and fuel prices across the board are higher and higher. Airlines have long tried to manage this expense through fuel hedging, using things like swaps and options to hedge against future increases in the price of jet fuel. David Kang, former group treasurer at Qatar Airways, has firsthand experience hedging for a large carrier, and he tells us exactly how it all works. He also explains why airlines use heating oil as a proxy for jet fuel, how much they can make by raising ticket prices and fuel surcharges, and why airlines and oil refineries aren’t so different.
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Exchanges
OCC September 2026 Monthly Volume Data
OCC
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BOX Exchange sets Q4 2026 short-term options qualifying securities list
TU News
BOX Exchange has published the securities eligible for its short-term option series program for the fourth quarter of 2026, setting out the stocks and exchange-traded funds that meet its quarterly thresholds. The framework ties eligibility to market capitalization or assets under management, options trading volume, position limits and participation in the Penny Interval Program.
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MEMX Group Completes Rollout of MX2 Options
Business Wire – Yahoo Finance
MEMX Group, a technology-driven exchange operator founded by members to benefit all investors, today announced the successful completion of the MX2 Options rollout. MX2 Options launched with an initial 10 symbols on September 14, 2026. Over the following two weeks, the exchange continued to scale operations until all symbols went live on September 30.
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CME Group Sets New Open Interest Record in Soybean Futures
CME Group – Cision PR Newswire
CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, today announced that its Soybean futures reached a new monthly open interest record of 1,118,872 contracts in September, surpassing the previous record of 1,063,108 contracts traded in April 2026. “We’re seeing record participation in Soybean futures because the market is facing a unique combination of forces all at once: trade talks are fueling demand, buyers are hedging the incoming U.S. harvest amid rain delays, and Brazil’s planting season is starting just as Super El Nino threatens yields,” said John Ricci, Global Head of Agricultural Products at CME Group. “These events draw participants and have pushed trading activity to new highs. We remain committed to providing the risk management tools clients need to navigate ongoing market volatility.”
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Miami International Holdings Announces Date of Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Release and Conference Call
MIAX
Miami International Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MIAX), a technology-driven leader in building and operating regulated financial markets across multiple asset classes, will release its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026 after the close of market trading on Thursday, October 29, 2026. A conference call with remarks by the company’s senior management will begin at 5:00 p.m. ET.
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Nasdaq to Hold Third Quarter 2026 Investor Conference Call
Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) has scheduled its third quarter 2026 financial results announcement.
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B1G Numbers September 2026: Key Figures from Exchanges
SIX Group
In September, the combined turnover of SIX Swiss Exchange and BME Exchange was up by a third compared to August, reaching CHF 168.5 bn, while the number of transactions rose by 17.6% to over 8.1 mn. Over the course of the month, the SMI fell by 3.2% and the IBEX35 by 2.7%, resulting in year-to-date performances of 4.2% and 12.2% respectively.
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REGULATION
White House Reviews CFTC Prediction Market Rule Changes
Johnny K. – World Casino News
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has taken a significant step in its ongoing effort to define the regulatory framework surrounding prediction markets, sending two proposed rule changes to the White House for review as disputes over federal and state authority continue to intensify. The measures were submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a branch of the Office of Management and Budget responsible for reviewing federal regulations before publication. Together, the proposals seek to clarify how prediction market products fit within the legal definition of a swap, a classification that carries major implications for oversight of platforms such as Kalshi, Polymarket, Rothera, and Novig.
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CFTC Readies Action on Prediction Market Promos, Expected This Week
Luci Kelemen – Bitcoin News
The CFTC is sweeping incentive programs offered by prediction market platforms over concerns that some promotions are misleading, Front Office Sports reported on Sept. 29, citing sources. The review covers incentives for both traders and market makers, and could lead to targeted examinations or enforcement investigations. Chairman Michael Selig has not settled on an approach, but an “action” of some kind is expected by the end of this week, per the reporting. The CFTC declined to comment to FOS, and as of Wednesday, no announcement had appeared on its website.
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Kalshi to End Volume Rewards as CFTC Reviews $5 Billion in Ether Trades
BigGo Finance
Kalshi, the prediction market platform that has become a dominant force in event-contract trading, is discontinuing a program that rewarded users for trading volume, a move that arrives as regulators scrutinize billions of dollars in recurring Ether perpetual futures transactions on the exchange. The company informed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in a filing dated Sept. 28 that it would terminate its Volume Incentive Program no earlier than Oct. 13. The submission offered no explanation for the decision and drew no connection to the questions that have emerged in recent weeks about the authenticity of trading patterns on its crypto perpetual markets.
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Hyperliquid Policy Center, Circle press EU on perps and stablecoin reserves in MiCA review
Zack Abrams – The Block
The Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC) wants the European Commission to treat crypto perpetual futures as derivatives under MiFID II, the EU’s existing rulebook for financial instruments first passed in 2014, rather than bring them under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA. HPC urged the Commission as such in its response to the Commission’s MiCA review, which opened on May 20. The EU’s executive body later pushed the deadline from Aug. 31 to Sept. 30, and several crypto and banking firms filed responses in the last few days of the submission period.
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MOVES
After a 17-year tenure at CME Group, Dr. Tina Hasenpusch stepped down at the end of September to transition away from full-time executive roles following the 2024 birth of her daughter, she announced on LinkedIn. She expressed deep gratitude for her time at the firm and said she plans to remain active in the financial industry by pursuing board and advisory positions. In her next career chapter, Hasenpusch aims to leverage her extensive background in derivatives, financial market infrastructure, risk management, and technology transformation to help organizations navigate growth and change.
Chrissy Somers shared on LinkedIn that she has been promoted to marketing manager for North American retail at CME Group. The former teacher joined CME in 2023 as a senior educational marketing specialist.
Bryony Bushnell shared on LinkedIn that she has been promoted to senior director of corporate communications for EMEA at CME Group. ~JJL
Strategy
A Divided Stock Market Looks Scary. It Could Be the Setup for a Serious Rally.
Alex Rosenberg – Barron’s
A yawning gap has opened up inside the stock market that to some looks like an abyss. We see an opportunity.
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Three reasons this Wall Street market-making powerhouse says investors should reload on stocks right now
Jamie Chisholm – MarketWatch
Recent weeks may have been frustrating for investors, with the S&P 500 churning beneath its surface to produce a gain of 2% in the third quarter. But Scott Rubner, head of equity and equity-derivatives strategy at Citadel Securities, thinks September in particular gave the market a reset that it needed, as investors’ equity exposure and leverage dipped, retail activity cooled, algorithm-focused funds sold and valuations were compressed.
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Education
September Office Hours FAQs: Volatility Crush, Assignment Risk and Vertical Spreads
OIC
Implied Volatility: What “High” Really Means If implied volatility is high, does that automatically mean options are expensive? Not on its own. Implied volatility is a number that moves option prices up or down, but the number by itself doesn’t say much. The real question is: compared with what? One common comparison is historical volatility, which measures how much a stock has actually moved in the past. Historical volatility looks backward, while implied volatility looks forward, forecasting how much a stock is expected to move before the option expires. Comparing the two can help a trader judge whether today’s implied volatility looks rich or cheap relative to how the stock has actually behaved.
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