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 …
Unlike the S&P 500 or Dow Jones Index, there is no way to directly invest in the VIX index. I’m sure some really smart people have tried to figure out how to go long or short on this computed volatility index, but there’s just no way to do it directly. Instead, you have to invest in a security that attempts to track VIX. None of …
I know that analogies usually confuse more than they help—but that’s not going to stop me from trying… Imagine that you are the season ticket holder of 4 good seats for a major league football team at the beginning of the season. A lot of people think the team is headed for the Superbowl, but you are pessimistic. You’d like to cash in on the …
In 2010 options symbols transitioned to a new terminology. Unfortunately Fidelity and Schwab decided they didn’t want to use the standard, generic format, so they invented their own “better” version of the new symbols. Here are the new formats: Generic, industry standard format: “SPY 10417C00114000” (<symbol> <YYMMDD> <C or P><5 digit whole dollar strike><3 digit decimal>). Schwab’s systems: “SPY 04/17/2010 114.00 …
I have only found one site that offers completely free option charts for stocks, Exchange Traded Products, and indexes: BigCharts. I provide more information about it below. Recently Schwab (StreetSmart Pro) and Fidelity (Active Trader Pro and standard web site) have started offering option charts to customers, but they require you to at least setup an account with them. Neither of these use the “standard” …
