Tuesday, December 3, 2024
It’s not hyperbole to say that this is as crazy as the financial markets ever get. There may have been more shocking news items in 2008 (Lehman going bankrupt), but the huge daily swings we have seen in stocks and other asset classes are unprecedented. A market that has frequent, huge swings in prices is […]
With stocks in a bear market and potentially more selling ahead, the Fed has cut interest rates to 0% and started a new $700 billion quantitative easing program. This could cause a substantial amount of volatility in the market, but especially in rate sensitive sectors like financials. In fact, a trader just bought a large […]
On Monday, the major stock indices in the US were all down at least 7% for the day. It was the largest one-day drop since 2008, the year the Great Financial Crisis started. This time around it’s not subprime loans causing the meltdown, but a highly contagious virus and an oil price war. While stocks […]
The market continues to be ultra-volatile due to serious concerns over the global economy in the wake of the coronavirus. High yield bonds (aka junk bonds) tend to sell off during times of high stress as investors move to the safety of government bonds instead. This past week, someone bought a one-week put spread in […]
The financial markets are in high volatility mode as the fears of the coronavirus and the ensuing actions by the government are driving huge price swings. We’ve gone from some of our biggest down days in history (in terms of points, not percentages) to one our biggest up days ever, to back down again. To […]
The market sold off sharply this week into correction territory on fears of the global impact of COVID-19. Options volumes were through the roof as expected as traders and investors rushed to get in and out of positions, including hedges. Volatility soared, with the VIX (S&P 500 volatility index) trading at 2-year highs. A popular […]
