Quote from lynx2004:
Has it occured to you that you need to think a bit more about writing options before your smartass reply?
Does anyone know when these were written -- what market level and vol level? Even though these are European and very long dated, still given the vol explosion, these vols also have to be marked up by some fraction and anyone who has managed long dated options know the sensitivity of vega in them. And not to mention the dramatic price drop on the SP500 to add to the mix. He can't just sit and wait holding the premium collected. Whoever owns these will want to post collateral (no bank will say Warren is good for it ha ha)- I would want him to post additional collateral as the value of my puts keep increasing -- wouldn't you?
I'm surprised that the article says the losses as much as 4.7 Billion -- I think potentially losses could be much higher unless he is hedged somewhat.
I'm sure he has a trading desk trying to manage these positions and given the volatility, they must be getting a beating trying to hedge this shit.
OP is right -- it would be the ultimate signal to go long.