Options are excellent vehicles for taking a directional view on a market. But buying outright puts or calls are subject to time decay. A straightforward options strategy is the vertical spread.
President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi says "buckle up" because volatility is back! Keep your hands and feet in the car because it is going to be a ride that may make the "Taper Tantrum" look tame.
While both volatility and implied volatility are commonly understood concepts, the idea of “volatility term structure” is new to many and can be helpful in trading.
We examine market volatility and how it cycles in relation to moves in major equity indexes. More important, however, is what implications this may have on our ability to forecast those moves in equity indexes.
References to the VIX have become ubiquitous in equity analysis, but what is it and how do traders use it in their analysis and as a standalone market?
