Markets Were Already Braced for Chaos—and Then Came the Diagnosis; HSBC’s Wild Ride Pushes Hedging Costs to Highest in a Decade
VIX futures
The Spread: Home, Sweet Home
This week on The Spread, Cboe and the CME Group announce new “mini” products, LedgerX announces a new volatility index for bitcoin, and more.
Both NYSE Options Floors Open for Business; Institutional Bitcoin Options Volumes Hit Record Highs in May
Observations & Insight The Spread: Derivatives On-Demand JohnLothianNews.com This week on The Spread, FIA announces IDX 2020, the Small Exchange launches, OCC celebrates increased volumes for cleared derivatives trades, and more. Watch the...
As oil collapses, some options players bet on a bounce; Dow Jones Industrial Average Slumps as Oil Prices Continue to Crater
Observations & Insight The Spread: Hangin' In There JohnLothianNews.com This week on The Spread: Worldwide traded options volumes rise, Will Acworth notes the impact of the closing of the trading floors on the options markets, and more....
Fund nicknamed ’50 Cent’ made $2.6 billion hedging the coronavirus sell-off; VIX futures point to coronavirus worries for months to come
Observations & Insight Buck Haworth - Open Outcry Traders History Project - Part One JohnLothianNews.com Buck Haworth has been a consultant, a CPA, a back office accountant, an exchange audit department executive, a foreign exchange...
The Spread: Crash and Burn
This week on The Spread: the coronavirus causes crashes not seen since 2008, derivatives trading hits record volumes for major exchanges, Robinhood has yet another outage, and the OCC adds two clearing-side veterans to its board of directors.
JLN Options: VIX Manipulation Debate; XIV Tales; Insurance and volatility
Observations & Insight What’s the Deal With the VIX Manipulation Letter? Inaccuracy and Misunderstanding Spencer Doar - JLN The big options news of the day pertains to a letter alleging VIX manipulation. The letter, written on behalf of an anonymous whistleblower...
LJM Fund Closes Due to Vol Bet; Markets’ Derivatives Knowledge; ‘The Tail Grabbed the Dog’
Observations & Insight The Spread - Week of 2/5 - 2/9 JohnLothianNews.com This is a bit of an early edition of our weekly options news recap as snow has blanketed Chicago and will continue to fall for the next few days. As another result of being Chicago-based,...
The VIX Can’t Cause Vol – Cboe’s View on Volatility ETPs
As volatility began to surge in February, and then exploded on the fifth of the month, exchange traded products (ETPs) that shorted or provided inverse exposure to VIX futures came under fire. The two most popular, Credit Suisse’s...
Interview with OCC’s Donohue; Boom in VIX trading; Industry bits
Observations & Insight Bits and Pieces SD- JLN While the war of words over Cboe's end-of-day trading proposition regards equities, we're going to keep you updated, since the players involved are options exchange groups, too. Today's news pertains to Cboe and...
Is the VIX Being Gamed?; Bullish Options Positioning; Traders Love Crypto Stock Moves
Lead Stories Is the VIX Being Gamed? A Sudden Swoon Has Traders Talking Again Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Cecile Vannucci - Bloomberg It made for quite a chart. On the morning of Dec. 20, just as billions of dollars of futures tied to the Cboe Volatility Index were set to...
Volatility Is World’s Undervalued Asset; Acting Like Risk Doesn’t Exist
Lead Stories Volatility May Be the World’s Only Undervalued Asset Class Doug Kass – RealClearMarkets I have argued that risk is underpriced because in large measure of the structural changes in the markets and participants positioning. Risk is an ever-present...
50 Cent Isn’t the Only One Seeking Big Protection in VIX Options; Markets Have Nothing Left to Fear But Fearlessness Itself; Factors make multi-asset shift
Lead Stories 50 Cent Isn't the Only One Seeking Big Protection in VIX Options Luke Kawa - Bloomberg '50 Cent' has company in his quest to protect from market turmoil. Even as the CBOE Volatility Index sits at historically low levels below 10, an institutional investor...
This U.S. Treasuries ‘Breakout Play’ Has Rarely Been So Cheap; VIX most bearish hedge fund positioning on record; Soc Gen combines electronic and high-touch trading teams
Lead Stories This U.S. Treasuries 'Breakout Play' Has Rarely Been So Cheap Tanvir Sandhu - Bloomberg Rally in stocks and bonds calls for a more cautious approach; Risks of market correction are rising but yet to be irrational The low cost to hedge a break-out from the...
John Lothian Newsletter
Today’s Newsletter

Dead Chickens, Frozen Oranges Confront Farmers in South After Severe Cold
First Read $29,826/$300,000 (9.9%) Charles Bohm ++++ Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The CME set new record volumes in the Ultra 10-Year Note and 30-Year Bond futures on February 23. Ultra 10-Year Note futures reached a record volume of 1.7 million...
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JLN Options Newsletter
Today’s Newsletter

GameStop shares on track to triple for week as options trading spikes; GameStop short-sellers have lost $1.9 billion in just 2 days amid the stock’s latest spike
GameStop shares on track to triple for week as options trading spikes; GameStop short-sellers have lost $1.9 billion in just 2 days amid the stock’s latest spike
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