Derivs - Equity

When the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) last week bought equity volatility analytics and data provider Livevol, Inc. for an undisclosed amount, it became the latest exchange to take over a job formerly done by its members.

Options markets continue to suggest bearish investors fear a correction for China's red hot stock markets.

Fixed income, currency, and commodity markets have been riddled with volatility this spring but, so far, those risks have not been transmitted to equity investors.

ADM Investor Services has hired around 10 futures and alternative asset management sales staff in New York. They have all been hired from Jefferies’ wound-down Bache division.

While the institutional derivatives audience has remained largely oblivious to low cost web based so-called roboadvisors — quantitative allocators that provide comprehensive portfolio services for individual investors — a new company is the first in what is likely to become a trend of overlay managers relying on models and cloud computing rather than human experience.

With so many people in markets concerned by impending Federal Reserve tightening in the US, and a possible Greek exit from the euro, there is some irony in how subdued implied volatilities for US equities and the euro have been.

Low interest rates and a surge in mergers have combined to revive interest in an old fashioned US equity options strategy, according to industry insiders.

Market sentiment seems lately to swing more wildly between euphoria and despair.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation into how well the European Market Infrastructure Regulation has been implemented.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced the departure of two senior members of staff.

Event driven macroeconomic factors are driving investors to put on options hedges, particularly as sell-offs in credit and interest rate markets spill over to equities, according to strategists.

Investors are finally taking seriously the prospect of continued expansion in the US economy. An extended quiet period this spring pulled levels of implied risk to near multi-year lows, as investors showed reduced demand for hedges and protection while bonds remained strong and first quarter earnings looked passable.