Volatility Views 61: A Short Straddle for Cowards

Volatility Views 61: A Short Straddle for Cowards

Volatility Review: Vol review from the last few weeks. Short story: vol has marched downward to near-record lows.   Volatility Viewpoint: This week, Mark and Don are joined by Dan Passarelli, Market Taker Mentoring.  Dan discusses Market Taker and how he approaches volatility with a new client.  He also talks about mentoring students who want to dive into sophisticated vol products, like VIX options, for example. Does he counsel the novice trader to avoid these products? How does he train students to be aware of volatility levels for each trade that they make? They also discuss gamma scalping and delta neutral trading, and where Dan falls in the volatility hedge vs. direct hedge debate.

Mailbag: Answering listener mail.
.    When is Volatility Views coming back live?
.    Someone bought 20,000 Feb 75 calls in the VIX yesterday. That's near the ultimate all-time high for the VIX. Why do so many people dramatically overestimate VIX, particularly to the upside? People seem to be ignorant of the historical range of VIX, let alone the typical VIX movement. Perhaps this is more of a comment than a question, but it's been bothering me lately and I wanted to hear your learned opinions on the matter.
.    Is there such a thing as "the gamma of vega"?

Crystal Ball: NASDAQ vol outlook.