Volatility Views 108: VIX & More with Bill Luby

04/28/14 • 63 min

Volatility Review: Today’s guest is Bill Luby, founder of the VIXandMore.com blog. It was a relatively quiet week for VIX, mostly drifting down toward the 13 handle until today. An aggressive selloff boosted volatility across the board. VIX Futures are catching bids as well. VIX options activity today: 4/1 calls over puts. Is there any sign of life in VXST?

India VIX reaches record highs. Kospi 200 volatility index hits record lows last week.

Volatility Voicemail: Panels for advisors, volatility re: valuations, earnings, scanning tools, and more.

Question from Sanjay Patel - I have to agree with the hosts regarding the discussion from episode 104 regarding VIX ETPs and RIAs or family offices. I have been active in the advisor community for several decades, following all of the latest research and attending many industry conferences. I have never encountered a single study or panel devoted to this issue or a fellow advisor who utilizes these products. My evidence is all anecdotal but I would think that if advisors made up a significant portion of those flows I would have encountered that by now. I just wanted to share my thoughts with your listeners. Thank you for reading my question. Please continue to produce this fine program as well as the Advisors Option. They speak to very unique audience.
Question from Even_Star - Is it possible to run options valuations models using actual rather than implied volatility levels? I think this would give a truer approximation of the options value when you strip away all of the nonsense that comes from implied volatility.
Question from Haweye - Aside from Apple last week and Google last cycle, it seems like most companies are dramatically underperforming their straddles during earnings season. Microsoft and Amazon are simply the latest names to fall victim to this trend. To what do you attribute this trend? Why are traders so consistently overestimating volatility going into earnings announcements this year? This would seem to be a good environment for a risk defined premium harvesting strategy, such as an iron condor or iron fly.
Question from James Norman - Love the Volatility Views show. Great content. Great guests. Keep them coming. I would like to ask a question about tools, in particular scanners. You have discussed scanners for unusual activity and changes in implied Vol on previous shows. Do you know of any tools that scan for changes in implied volatility skew? I am looking to capture skew distortions that allow me to leg into verticals, ratios and risk reversals at highly attractive levels. Does such a tool exist? I did not know where else to turn, but I know Mark and the Volatility Views team will not let me down!

Crystal Ball: FOMC, Q1 GDP, ISM and the employment report (plus earnings) - all in one week!

Volatility Views 108: VIX & More with Bill Luby

India VIX reaches record highs. Kospi 200 volatility index hits record lows last week.

Volatility Voicemail: Panels for advisors, volatility re: valuations, earnings, scanning tools, and more.

Question from Sanjay Patel - I have to agree with the hosts regarding the discussion from episode 104 regarding VIX ETPs and RIAs or family offices. I have been active in the advisor community for several decades, following all of the latest research and attending many industry conferences. I have never encountered a single study or panel devoted to this issue or a fellow advisor who utilizes these products. My evidence is all anecdotal but I would think that if advisors made up a significant portion of those flows I would have encountered that by now. I just wanted to share my thoughts with your listeners. Thank you for reading my question. Please continue to produce this fine program as well as the Advisors Option. They speak to very unique audience.
Question from Even_Star - Is it possible to run options valuations models using actual rather than implied volatility levels? I think this would give a truer approximation of the options value when you strip away all of the nonsense that comes from implied volatility.
Question from Haweye - Aside from Apple last week and Google last cycle, it seems like most companies are dramatically underperforming their straddles during earnings season. Microsoft and Amazon are simply the latest names to fall victim to this trend. To what do you attribute this trend? Why are traders so consistently overestimating volatility going into earnings announcements this year? This would seem to be a good environment for a risk defined premium harvesting strategy, such as an iron condor or iron fly.
Question from James Norman - Love the Volatility Views show. Great content. Great guests. Keep them coming. I would like to ask a question about tools, in particular scanners. You have discussed scanners for unusual activity and changes in implied Vol on previous shows. Do you know of any tools that scan for changes in implied volatility skew? I am looking to capture skew distortions that allow me to leg into verticals, ratios and risk reversals at highly attractive levels. Does such a tool exist? I did not know where else to turn, but I know Mark and the Volatility Views team will not let me down!

Crystal Ball: FOMC, Q1 GDP, ISM and the employment report (plus earnings) - all in one week!

Previous Episode

Volatility Views 107: Another Day, Another Selloff

Volatility Review: Another day, another selloff. VIX cash pops one handle to nearly 17. VIX call/put hovering around 2.6 - high but not at all-time highs. VIX cash trading at a premium to near-term futures. Does the VIX "fully" reflect the markets fear? CBOE launches a new Vol product - Short-term Volatility Index (VXST). Emerging market Vol preview.

Volatility Viewpoint: What was Russell’s take on RMC this year?

Volatility Voicemail: International VIX?

Question from Vegaman - Great podcast. Love the recent rundown of RMC since I’m never able to attend the show. My question - do you know if any international versions of the VIX are in the offing? You’ve discussed the India VIX on previous shows but that seems to be the only non-U.S. version that gets mentioned. Thanks to the folks at Russell for making this great show possible. Oh - and I’m streaming the show while submitting this question from the mobile app. Very cool.

Crystal Ball: An outlook of VIX, RVX, VIX ETPs and other volatility products.

Next Episode

Volatility Views 110: Is Volatility Dying?

Volatility Review: April volume numbers are in. Is volatility dying? A new volatility index fund will launch soon in Australia. Demand for VIX future remains low in India despite high volatility. Volatility review in other asset classes including: ags, metals and fixed income.

Volatility Voicemail: So many questions!

Question from Allan S - I hear a lot about gamma scalping on the network. But what about volatility scalping. Isn't that really what you're doing? Aren't most options traders really volatility traders? Thank you for clarifying.
Question from Jim Thompson, New Mexico - What does the volatility panel think of flash boys - particularly as it pertains to Volatility. Are these same players active in derivatives and, if so, are they causing our exacerbating volatility? Great show Mark. Jared has been an excellent addition to the team.

Crystal Ball: An outlook for VIX, RVX, VIX ETPs and other products.