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JLN Options
March 21, 2016  
 
Jeff Bergstrom
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John Lothian News
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Observations & Insight
 


2016 Exchange CEO Series: CME's Gill Looking For Customer Efficiencies
JohnLothianNews.com

CME Group has been focused on global growth, just like every other major exchange. But to get there, the exchange leader believes it has to work with customers to streamline costs so it can expand.

In part one of our two-part interview at the FIA Boca Conference, CME CEO Phupinder Gill said that the exchange is working on new ways to address capital efficiencies through products such as cleared swaptions, but also new clearing services that will help institutions reduce collateral.

CME is also continuing to work on market disruptors such as blockchain technology, which may change the way in which clearing services are delivered.



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SpiderRock
 
 
Lead Stories
 
All calm? Volatility gauge dips to November low
Financial Times
And relax.
Expectations for volatility in US equities over the next month have fallen to the lowest level since November in a sign of the shift in sentiment on Wall Street.
bit.ly/1pFl2Wc

****JB: All is well...

Did the VIX Fall Too Far, Too Fast?
Chris Dieterich - Barron's
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is the market's fear gauge. And the VIX has plunged as stocks have rallied since early February.
One technical analyst contends that the VIX has fallen too far, too fast.
on.barrons.com/21DCbev

****JB:...or is it?

'Brexit' Hedges Signal U.K. Stock Calm Temporary as Traders Flee
Sofia Horta E Costa, Manisha Jha and Blaise Robinson - Bloomberg
While U.K. stocks come close to erasing losses for the year and volatility is at a seven-month low, options and fund flows signal lingering concerns.
Investors are paying up to protect against an increase in stock swings by June, when Britons must decide whether to leave the European Union. The cost of FTSE 100 Index options maturing in three months has reached a three-year high relative to one-month contracts, and traders globally have cut their U.K. stock holdings even after a 12 percent rebound in the gauge through Friday. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.3 percent at 12:24 p.m. in London.
bloom.bg/21DyBB2

****JB: Current odds are over 70% that the UK will vote to remain in the EU. It's never been below 60% that I see.

Fed Relents but U.S. Rate Volatility Lags Europe Slide: Analysis
Bloomberg
Compression of spreads between U.S. and Europe short-tenor rates volatilities still don't fully capture the unexpected twists in the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank monetary policies of the month, Bloomberg strategist Tanvir Sandhu writes.
bloom.bg/1RdeuXw

BigTrends.com Weekly Market Outlook - Up 12% From Lows, Where To Now?
Moby Waller - CBOE Options Hub
We just completed the fifth straight bullish week for the market. The S&P 500 (SPX) (SPY) advanced 1.35% last week, clearing a couple of key resistance lines in the process. Yet, other resistance lines have yet to be hurdled, and could end up being problems that work against stocks now that the S&P 500 is up 12% from the February 11th low... enough to give all those would-be profit-takers something to think about.
bit.ly/21DEcY2

U.S. Stock Rebound Reaches Five Weeks as Worst-Ever Start Erased
Dani Burger - Bloomberg
It took took five straight weekly gains, and now investors can finally say the Standard & Poor's 500 Index is higher for the year.
The U.S. equity benchmark added 1.4 percent in the week to erase losses incurred during the worst-ever start to a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average capped one of the biggest turnarounds in history as it got back into the green for 2016. The weekly streak for stocks is the longest since November, when the S&P 500 emerged from its first correction in four years.
bloom.bg/21DyLrW

New Study Analyzes Performance of CBOE S&P 500 (SPX) Options-Selling Indexes
CBOE
A new study examines six benchmark indexes that write S&P 500 Index (SPX) options, comparing their performances with those of traditional stock, bond and commodity indexes. The options-selling indexes generally had returns similar to those of the S&P 500 Index, but with lower volatility and lower maximum drawdowns.
goo.gl/YMRBEz

****JB: In case you missed it.

 
 
Exchanges
 
SEC To Delay IEX Stock Exchange Decision Until June: Reports
Phil Albinus - Traders News
The SEC was set to make its decision this month after weeks of delays and passionate commentary from participants and key players in the US capital markets. The Wall Street Journal reports, "Regulators want to give IEX's allies and opponents another chance to comment on how the upstart market would work after its founders announced a change last month to how it would treat some customer orders, these people said."
bit.ly/1pvyY4u

Europe's markets at mercy of the US if London Stock Exchange merger fails, says Deutsche boss
Marion Dakers and Ben Marlow - The Telegraph
Europe's biggest financial markets would fall into American hands unless the London Stock Exchange succeeds in its bid to merge with Deutsche Boerse, the head of the German exchange has warned.
bit.ly/1PmbljR

 
 
Regulation & Enforcement
 
Trader for NAB sued over blue-chip stock spike
Financial Review
A Sydney options trader working for the National Australia Bank has been revealed as the mystery investor who allegedly traded $200 million shares through investment banks Goldman Sachs and UBS, causing a surprise $10 billion spike to the share market on the morning of October 18, 2012.
bit.ly/1pvz384

Hedge Fund Priest's Trades Probed by Wall Street Cop
Matt Robinson - Bloomberg
A priest who sidelines as a hedge-fund manager is being investigated by U.S. regulators for possible stock manipulation, prompting scrutiny of trading skills that the cleric has described as a "gift from God," according to people with knowledge of the matter.
bloom.bg/1LAOFBC

 
 
Education
 
Quadruple Witching Explained for ETF Investors
ETFdb.com
As scary as it sounds, quadruple witching shouldn't be something that investors fear. Quite on the contrary, nimble traders may even be able to profit from this options expiry calendar phenomenon.
bit.ly/1RdehDT

Trading Lesson 2: The 90's Were Alive
Bob Lang - CBOE Options Hub
Time for another trading lesson. Back in 1996 I took a job with Sunkist Growers as their Pension and Investments Manager. I was hired to manage pension assets for a mature fund. By mature this means there were many beneficiaries drawing monthly pensions, and as the company had been around 100 years the plan was old, I was charged with stepping up the pace of returns relative to the minimum required contribution by the company owners.
bit.ly/21DEk9P

Stop Worrying About The Market And Pay Yourself Instead
Nasdaq
It's one of the most frustrating things an investor can experience: Thanks to some supposed global calamity in the making, the stock market enters a period of insane volatility. Each tiny bit of news is parsed by the financial media, and then the major indices swing wildly -- sometimes even in direct conflict with the "goodness" or "badness" of the news itself.
After a few months of this -- and more than a few sleepless nights -- you check your computer screen to find the stocks in your portfolio are right back where they were before.
bit.ly/21DDXMB

 
 
 
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