Calm Before the Storm
Volume is very light for a second day, with 1.2 million calls and 1.3 million puts traded across the nine options exchanges through the first hour. The total volume of 2.5 million contracts so far is only 60 percent the average seen over the past month. The S&P 500 ticked higher at the open, but like yesterday, early gains were lost and the index is down 1.02 to 1307.91 — near session lows. VIX dipped below 20 Monday morning for the first time in weeks, but rallied more than 20 percent off its worst levels and is up another .02 to 23.58 Tuesday morning. Low volume in the options market isn’t likely to last heading into the quadruple witch expiration and this week’s backend loaded economic calendar. Retail Sales and PPI are due out tomorrow morning. Headlines related to Greek elections over the weekend will probably add some volatility to the June expiration as well. This morning’s anemic volume is possibly the calm before the storm.
Category: All Indexes
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About the Author (Author Profile)
Frederic Ruffy is a well-known trader, writer, and strategist who has spent years educating investors and creating intelligent, insightful, unbiased market observations that are frequently cited by the Wall Street Journal and other financial publications. As senior analyst, Fred provides frequent and regular notes and daily updates for activity of interest.
