VXX options offer ways to take either long or short volatility positions. Unlike most securities VXX tends to go up when the market is down—which leads to some signficantly different options characteristics. Comparing VXX options to VIX options: Similarities: Both are ultimately based on the Cboe’s VIX futures Will show a strong reversion to baseline behavior when the market is behaving itself—the VIX index and …
I’m guessing we are near the bottom of this correction. Bought USO 32 July (17-Jul-10) calls at 2.16.
Bought VIX June puts at 4.6, the VIX index was around 31 at the time. Barring another bear market I think we will see the VIX pull back from the recent spikes. For related posts see: How to go long on the VIX index How to go short on the VIX index
This last weekend the option symbol transition coordinated by The Options Clearing Corporation completed, with the last set of symbols, starting with underlying symbols of S through Z, switched over to the new system. In almost all cases the 3 to 5 letter underlying symbol now works as the option identifier. I think the new system is a real improvement. I wish …
There is a lot of premium available on SPY options that will expire at the end of next week due to the recent market gyrations. I created a covered call, buying SPY at 117.26, selling-to-open May 117 calls at 1.69 for a net investment of 115.57. The Theta (time decay) on these options is $8 per day.
