$18 Million VIX Calls Sold As Singular Trader Believes That Stock Prices Will Stabilize By Late Feb

An investor sold about $18 million in calls on the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a strategy that will be profitable as long as the VIX doesn’t keep extending last week’s surge.

The trade included the sale of 250,000 February 22 calls for about 70 cents each, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Trade Alert LLC. It happened after the VIX reached an intraday high of 18.99 around 12:20 p.m. New York time. The investor will keep the proceeds if the VIX stays below 22 and the calls expire worthless.

“It’s impressive in size and it’s impressive in timing,” Henry Schwartz, president of Trade Alert, a New York-based provider of options-market data, said in a phone interview. “Whether it’s an outright bet against the VIX rising or hedge against existing positions is hard to say. It’s a large account for sure.”

Bloomberg

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Mingze Wu

Mingze Wu

Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Based in Singapore, Mingze Wu focuses on trading strategies and technical and fundamental analysis of major currency pairs. He has extensive trading experience across different asset classes and is well-versed in global market fundamentals. In addition to contributing articles to MarketPulseFX, Mingze centers on forex and macro-economic trends impacting the Asia Pacific region.
Mingze Wu