Big VIX Call Options Trade Suggests Re-Emergence of '50 Cent'
Gregory Calderone - Bloomberg
An outsize CBOE Volatility Index options trade could signal the return of "50 Cent," an investor who earned the moniker for a proclivity to buy cheap options in large amounts.
Someone snapped up roughly 130,000 January $22 calls on the index for about 50 cents each Tuesday, contracts that would pay off if the volatility gauge almost doubles from its current level. The trade came as the S&P 500 Index climbed toward a record for the fourth session in a row and the VIX, which tracks the 30-day implied volatility for stocks in the benchmark gauge, hovered near its lowest level of the year.
/bloom.bg/38O6HxM
Gregory Calderone - Bloomberg
An outsize CBOE Volatility Index options trade could signal the return of "50 Cent," an investor who earned the moniker for a proclivity to buy cheap options in large amounts.
Someone snapped up roughly 130,000 January $22 calls on the index for about 50 cents each Tuesday, contracts that would pay off if the volatility gauge almost doubles from its current level. The trade came as the S&P 500 Index climbed toward a record for the fourth session in a row and the VIX, which tracks the 30-day implied volatility for stocks in the benchmark gauge, hovered near its lowest level of the year.
/bloom.bg/38O6HxM