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Tuesday, May 21, 3:34 PM Major hedge funds have suddenly turned bullish, reportedly buying massive amounts of OTC call options on the S&P 500 (SPY). The purchases have been large enough to send the VIX (VXX) higher even as stocks continue to gain. An important milestone - the implied volatility of S&P calls is now greater than that of puts, a true rarity since 2007. 19 Comments
Monday, May 20, 10:47 AM "High Beta" is hot with the PowerShares S&P 500 High Beta Portfolio (SPHB) pulling ahead of the Low Volatility Portfolio (SPLV) YTD after notably underperforming in Q1 and early Q2. Markets make opinions, and Sam Stovall thinks the momentum in high beta is set to continue as yield-starved investors look to capital gains instead of dividends. 1 Comment
Thursday, May 16, 2:44 PM It's Japan and then there's everything else. Of the top 2013 gainers in assets among ETFs, the Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ) and MSCI Japan Fund (EWJ) have brought in nearly $12B, about equal to the next 5 combined. If we're talking flows as a percentage of AUM, the rush into Japan funds is even more impressive. The low-volatility sector stands out as well with the USMV garnering $2.5B against a previous base of just $1.1B. Comment!
Wednesday, May 15, 3:47 PM The VIX (VXX +0.6%) - typically moving the opposite direction of stock prices - has been more correlated to equities this year than any other time since 1996, according to Kaitlyn Kiernan, with today (if it holds) being the 23rd instance YTD in which both have moved in the same direction. That translates into 25% of the trading sessions (for all 1996, it was 29%). 3 Comments
Monday, April 8, 3:05 PM At least one indicator is showing the largest bearish positioning since March 2010 as the ratio of call to put bets on the VIX (VXX) rises to its highest since then. Among the 10 most-owned VIX options, 9 have larger bets on volatility gains, with April $20 calls - 44% out of the money right now - garnering the largest open interest. 16 Comments
Thursday, March 28, 1:14 PM The "vol tourists" are piling into the Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (XIV), says Chris Cole, not really understanding it, but liking the price action (up) and believing the "Fed will always have their back." The "tourists" may get burned at some point, but for the moment, the XIV is providing another way for those betting on turbulence to lose money - demand to borrow the shares is soaring. 9 Comments
Tuesday, March 26, 11:02 AM Some people just enjoy pain. More than $520M has poured into leveraged-volatility ETPs (UVXY, TVIX) in Q1 even as their value continues to decline. The un-levered tracker of the VIX (VXX) has drawn in $620M. Bets on the leveraged products are bets on a crisis emerging ... quickly. "When bad things don't happen and you lose your premium," says a market maker, "most people don't complain." 16 Comments
Friday, March 22, 2:29 PM Bill Luby takes a look at the low volatility fad, checking the performance of the popular SPLV against the high beta SPHB. Over longer periods - and even in bull markets - low volatility appears to have a high probability of outperforming high beta, particularly when risk-adjusted. The biggest risk is a sharp bull move similar to the last few months in which high beta leaves the defensive stocks in the dust. Comment!
Tuesday, March 19, 3:05 PM The low volatility space continues to be a popular one with PowerShares' SPLV surpassing $4B in AUM in its less than 2 years of existence. The fund holds the 100 stocks in the S&P 500 with the lowest volatility over the previous year, and has outperformed the SPY by more than 600 bps since inception. Competitors include: USMV, IDLV, EEMV, SMLV, LGLV. Comment!
Monday, March 11, 12:57 PM The CBOE Volatility Index today dropped below 12 for the first time since 2007 and against a long-term average of 20.4. Contrary to what contrarians believe, writes Mark Hulbert, low VIX levels are not necessarily bearish. Thinking about VIX as what it is - a measure of expected volatility - rather than as a "fear gauge" might help do away with this misperception. VXX -2.2%. 18 Comments
Monday, February 25, 4:13 PM More on the VIX (previous): Up 26.3% minutes ago, the index ended 35% higher - extreme is an understatement. This cool graph from credit markets shows today's move to be about the 3rd or 4th largest going all the way back to 2005. VXX +13.7% in the regular session, +1.5% AH. 12 Comments
Thursday, February 21, 12:58 PM The VIX (VXX +4.2%) stretches its 2-day gain to 53%. Do the sharpest drops (in stocks) happen in bull markets? This would be the 12th time since 1991 the VIX has spiked more than 25% in 2 days with the S&P above both its 50 and 200-day moving averages, says Jerry Khachoyan. 3 Comments
Tuesday, February 19, 3:31 PM The red-hot low volatility investing sector gets two more ETFs with State Street launching Thursday the SPDR Russell 1000 Low Vol. ETF (LGLV) and the SPDR Russell 2000 Low Vol. ETF (SMLV). The original low vol. ETF (SPLV) has outperformed the SPY by about 400 bps since its May 2011 inception. The sector ETFs have taken in $1.5B thus far in 2013, about 1/3 of the total for all 2012. 2 Comments [Financials]
Tuesday, February 19, 8:02 AM "I think we're seeing fear fatigue," says money manager Darell Krasnoff. Clients of his out of stocks for some time are calling and asking to get back in. It's the same story at Fidelity and Schwab (SCHW), both seeing marked increases in trading activity. The Vix (VXX)? It declines even on days when the markets sell off. 29 Comments
Thursday, January 24, 11:15 AM A volatility bull (and sort of stock market bear) throws in the towel, with MKM's Jim Strugger warming up to the "new reality of a lower volatility regime and its implications." A new era of fundamental analysis without fear of the macro environment is upon us, he says. Three weeks ago (and for the last several years), he sang a different tune. 12 Comments
Wednesday, January 23, 1:26 PM Perceptions what is "low" on the VIX (VXX) are skewed by the financial crisis, writes Adam Warner. Prior to 2008, a VIX above 30 for any length of time was unheard of, and a level in the teens was the norm for years on end. This doesn't mean options aren't cheap at these levels - they are, and replacing stock winners with calls at these prices wouldn't be a horrible strategy. 4 Comments

USMV iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility Index ETF

USMV

iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility Index ETF