The Vix Trader S Handbook

Russell Rhoads is one of America’s leading experts on VIX, the Volatility Index. In The VIX Trader’s Handbook he takes a deep dive into all things associated with volatility indexes and related trading vehicles. The handbook begins with an explanation of what VIX is, how it is calculated, and why it behaves the way it does in various market environments. It also explains the various methods of getting exposure to volatility through listed markets. The focus then moves on to demonstrate how traders take advantage of various scenarios using futures, options, or ETPs linked to the performance of VIX. Finally, a comprehensive review is presented of volatility events that shook the markets, including the 1987 crash, Great Financial Crisis, 2010 flash crash, and the 2020 pandemic. By understanding how VIX behaved leading up to these market shocks, and reacted afterwards, traders can better equip themselves ahead of future events. A wide variety of strategies that are implemented in both bearish and bullish equity markets are introduced and covered extensively throughout. The VIX Trader’s Handbook is essential reading for all those who are intending to trade volatility—from those who wish to gain an understanding of how VIX and the related trading products behave, to those intending to hedge equity exposure or take advantage of the persistent overpricing of option volatility. You won’t want to trade volatility without it.

A guide to using the VIX to forecast and trade markets Known as the fear index, the VIX provides a snapshot of expectations about future stock market volatility and generally moves inversely to the overall stock market. Trading VIX Derivatives will show you how to use the Chicago Board Options Exchange's S&P 500 volatility index to gauge fear and greed in the market, use market volatility to your advantage, and hedge stock portfolios. Engaging and informative, this book skillfully explains the mechanics and strategies associated with trading VIX options, futures, exchange traded notes, and options on exchange traded notes. Many market participants look at the VIX to help understand market sentiment and predict turning points. With a slew of VIX index trading products now available, traders can use a variety of strategies to speculate outright on the direction of market volatility, but they can also utilize these products in conjunction with other instruments to create spread trades or hedge their overall risk. Reviews how to use the VIX to forecast market turning points, as well as reveals what it takes to implement trading strategies using VIX options, futures, and ETNs Accessible to active individual traders, but sufficiently sophisticated for professional traders Offers insights on how volatility-based strategies can be used to provide diversification and enhance returns Written by Russell Rhoads, a top instructor at the CBOE's Options Institute, this book reflects on the wide range of uses associated with the VIX and will interest anyone looking for profitable new forecasting and trading techniques.

Strategies, tools, and proven solutions for minimizing risk and volatility in option trading The Option Trader Handbook helps readers better understand trade management by providing a thorough compilation of the numerous trade adjustments, hedges, and enhancements that can be made to stock or option positions using derivatives. Dr. George Jabbour is the Director of the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) Program at The George Washington University as well as a professor of derivatives, financial engineering and investments. Dr. Jabbour has published various articles in professional financial journals and regularly speaks at conferences in the United States and abroad regarding option pricing models, financial management, and risk management. He also is a managing director of Global Asset Investments, LLC, an asset management and derivative consulting firm, and CEO of Global Finance Associates, Inc., a financial training, consulting and research company. Dr. Jabbour regularly conducts seminars in option trading and valuation, and is a very active equity and derivative trader. Philip Budwick has a law degree and a Master of Science in Finance and frequently writes articles on option trading strategies and investments. Mr. Budwick is a managing director of Global Asset Investments, LLC and a managing member of Budwick InvestmentGroup, LLC, an option trading and investment software firm. He also conducts discussion groups and offers option investment training through Option Trading Coach, LLC and is an active option and stock trader.

In Volatility Trading, Sinclair offers you a quantitative model for measuring volatility in order to gain an edge in your everyday option trading endeavors. With an accessible, straightforward approach. He guides traders through the basics of option pricing, volatility measurement, hedging, money management, and trade evaluation. In addition, Sinclair explains the often-overlooked psychological aspects of trading, revealing both how behavioral psychology can create market conditions traders can take advantage of-and how it can lead them astray. Psychological biases, he asserts, are probably the drivers behind most sources of edge available to a volatility trader. Your goal, Sinclair explains, must be clearly defined and easily expressed-if you cannot explain it in one sentence, you probably aren't completely clear about what it is. The same applies to your statistical edge. If you do not know exactly what your edge is, you shouldn't trade. He shows how, in addition to the numerical evaluation of a potential trade, you should be able to identify and evaluate the reason why implied volatility is priced where it is, that is, why an edge exists. This means it is also necessary to be on top of recent news stories, sector trends, and behavioral psychology. Finally, Sinclair underscores why trades need to be sized correctly, which means that each trade is evaluated according to its projected return and risk in the overall context of your goals. As the author concludes, while we also need to pay attention to seemingly mundane things like having good execution software, a comfortable office, and getting enough sleep, it is knowledge that is the ultimate source of edge. So, all else being equal, the trader with the greater knowledge will be the more successful. This book, and its companion CD-ROM, will provide that knowledge. The CD-ROM includes spreadsheets designed to help you forecast volatility and evaluate trades together with simulation engines.

A detailed, one-stop guide for experienced options traders Positional Option Trading: An Advanced Guide is a rigorous, professional-level guide on sophisticated techniques from professional trader and quantitative analyst Euan Sinclair. The author has over two decades of high-level option trading experience. He has written this book specifically for professional options traders who have outgrown more basic trading techniques and are searching for in-depth information suitable for advanced trading. Custom-tailored to respond to the volatile option trading environment, this expert guide stresses the importance of finding a valid edge in situations where risk is usually overwhelmed by uncertainty and unknowability. Using examples of edges such as the volatility premium, term-structure premia and earnings effects, the author shows how to find valid trading ideas and details the decision process for choosing an option structure that best exploits the advantage. Advanced topics include a quantitative approach for directionally trading options, the robustness of the Black Scholes Merton model, trade sizing for option portfolios, robust risk management and more. This book: Provides advanced trading techniques for experienced professional traders Addresses the need for in-depth, quantitative information that more general, intro-level options trading books do not provide Helps readers to master their craft and improve their performance Includes advanced risk management methods in option trading No matter the market conditions, Positional Option Trading: An Advanced Guide is an important resource for any professional or advanced options trader.

An approachable guide to sustainable options trading, minimal luck needed. Traders who are successful long-term do not rely on luck, but rather their ability to adapt, strategize, and utilize available tools and information. Modern markets are becoming increasingly accessible to the average consumer, and the emergence of retail options trading is opening a world of opportunities for the individual investor. Options are highly versatile and complex financial instruments that were exclusive to industry professionals until recently. So where should beginners start? The Unlucky Investor's Guide to Options Trading breaks down the science of options trading to suit interested traders from any background. Using statistics and historical options data, readers will develop an intuitive understanding of the potential risks and rewards of options contracts. From the basics of options trading to strategy construction and portfolio management, The Unlucky Investor's Guide to Options Trading guides readers through the world of options and teaches the crucial risk management techniques for sustainable investing.

For years, traders and investors have been using unproven assumptions about popular patterns such as breakouts, momentum, new highs, new lows, market breadth, put/call ratios and more without knowing if there is a statistical edge. Common wisdom holds that the stock markets are ever changing. But, as it turns out, common wisdom can be wrong. Offering a comprehensive look back at the way the markets have acted over the last two decades, How Markets Really Work: A Quantitative Guide to Stock Market Behavior, Second Edition shows that nothing has changed, that the markets behave the same way today as they have in years past, and that understanding this puts you in a prime position to profit. Written by two top financial experts and filled with charts and graphs that illustrate the market concepts they develop, the book takes a sometimes contrarian view of everything from market edges to historical volatility, and from volume to put/call ratio, giving you all that you need to truly understand how the markets function. Fully revised and updated, How Markets Really Work, Second Edition takes a level-headed, data-driven look at the markets to show how they function and how you can apply that information intelligently when making investment decisions.