Via ZH: Earlier this week we pointed out a bizarre divergence in the “greeks” – while the Nasdaq had slumped into negative gamma territory, which is where dealers are forced to sell more as the Nasdaq slides lower creating a feedback loop where selling begets selling, even as the S&P still remained in positive gamma […]
negative gamma
Nomura June OPEX Update
“Following Friday’s Serial/Quarterly options expiry, we continue to see potential for a ‘Gamma Unclenching’ over the following 1w-2w period with currently ~47% of the $Gamma set to run-off” – Nomura’s Charlie Nomura marks a much lower gamma flip point of June options expiration, which would suggest markets may open in more positive gamma territory after […]
June Selloff Review
Markets were unable to hold gains on Friday after a sharp selloff on Thursday. While we initially opened over the gamma flip zone, markets broke that 3075 area and immediately sold down to the 3000 strike. This 3000 level is where we calculated the most options gamma and served as support. All of these levels […]
Zero Gamma = Zero Gravity
We posted a few days ago about the “right” tail risk and the possibility of a market rally. In a note to subscribers we added to this, suggesting the market may be in an airpocket. Specifically: “zero gravity”. Most of you are probably familiar with those flights which take you to the edge of space […]
Corona Market: Reviewing Right Tail Risk
This is being written just before the 3/26 unemployment data release which is forecasting as much as 2 million unemployment due to the economic shutdown related to Coronavirus. There is also a Stimulus Bill “pending“. While we are all aware of the downside risks here, here is a scenario for a major move to the […]
SpotGamma Report for: 03/13/2020 AM
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The Friday Option Position “Blowout”
ZeroHedge posted an article Friday that caught a lot of attention. Basically they claim that a firm got a tap on the shoulder from the risk department and were forced to close out positions. This may also have been a Margin Call. If someone got tagged (allegedly) doesn’t really matter to us, what happened in […]
Poor Liquidity & Negative Gamma: Volatile Stuff
We’ve written extensively about negative gamma and poor liquidity during volatile markets, and wanted to post some of those effects in real time. ZH posted an article framing how bad liquidity in ES futures is, note the chart below: as the following chart from Deutsche Bank shows, overall liquidity for S&P500 futures has fallen to all […]
SpotGamma 2/24/20 AM Report
We’ve moved well through the zero gamma area and are testing the first “put wall” and “absolute gamma strike”. Puts are now in control of gamma which indicates more volatility ahead. I would not look at the put wall as a solid support line, but more of a pivot or “band” around which larger moves […]
Volume vs Dealer Gamma
As volatility spikes S&P E-mini top of book depth decreases. Anecdotally this doesn’t come as a surprise because higher volatility should make dealers reduce size and be less aggressive. Whats interesting is that (in theory) in a negative gamma world options hedgers don’t reduce their size, so they just face less liquidity which means their […]
