Quote from atticus:
I traded the following today via UBS:
EURJPY
4/2/08 expiration; NY fix
152//160 double no touch
45/100 payout
Trade is neutral to 156.00 on spot.
Quote from atticus:
Nice trade. I think we chop on index, so I chose to short gamma in EURJPY over a similar position in SPX. FX barrier option markets are far tighter. EUR-major vols have ticked up over the last 24-hours due to the 200 pips seen on EURUSD.
The equivalent atm straddle was trading 180 pips. I'd rather take the touch risk at better than 1:1. The position trades at 7bp in daily theta. I expect vols to tick lower on decreased index vol this week.
Quote from atticus:
Yes, the vanilla analog to the DNT is a condor. European range trades are far more costly due to path-dependence, but are a greater debit risk as spot trades to either outlier strike -- the trade then becomes a 50-delta futures contract. Residual value remains high but will decay as gamma flips modality. IOW, I'll choose an American barrier over a European 99% of the time due to the clarity. I don't want to hold either trade near the barriers; the Euro is far more costly and you're flipping a coin at the barrier.
UBS offers electronic dealing in FX/options vanilla and exotic. Minimum is $500k, but they don't accept US-domiciled retail accounts. You'll need an LLC or foreign entity. Barclays is also a possibility.
Quote from riskfreetrading:
Thanks Atticus. Great info. Too bad they do not accept US retail. I will need an LLC. I will see which country/island I should formed it in. I do not know which country you are in, but for a retail in north america it is not the best time to trade via a foreign entity as they seem to be perceived as vehicles to evade taxes. I will pursue it anyway, if not at least for the future in case I decide to manage money with/on behalf of others.
Also where do you get you implied vols on currencies? I use the PHLX currencies options implieds. They are not as accurate, but they give me a sense of which pair to trade on spot (implieds are real money betting on a currency, and if the implied is high usually the pair moves).
PS: I forgot to cancel some orders on OANDA from late yesterday on (short) EUR/JPY in area of 157.50. They got triggered this morning. I just covered for 40 pips, as I have not studied the chart yet. But from last day analysis, I think that pair may bounce between 157.50 and 155 for the days to come. Maybe I should keep for more pips. But since I did not study it yet, I thought just to take money and ask questions later.