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by Matt_Mickiewicz 3059 days ago
I was just reading:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5581f17ee4b01f59c2b15...

tldr; * The Global Short Volatility trade now represents an estimated $2+ trillion in financial engineering strategies that simultaneously exert influence over, and are influenced by, stock market volatility

* Since 2009 Global Central Banks have pumped in $15 trillion in stimulus creating an imbalance in the investment demand for and supply of quality assets

* Last month Austria issued a 100-year bond with a coupon of only 2.1%(6) that will lose close to half its value if interest rates rise 1% or more.

* Amid this mania for investment, the stock market has begun self-cannibalizing... literally. Since 2009, US companies have spent a record $3.8 trillion on share buy-backs financed by historic levels of debt issuance.

* Every decline in markets is aggressively bought by the market itself, further lowing volatility.

* Volatility is now at multi-generational lows... Volatility is now the only undervalued asset class in the world. Equity and fixed income volatility are now at the lowest levels in financial history.

2 comments

How is Volatility an asset, and how does one take advantage of this?
Banks sell derivatives indexed on vol, like vol swaps and var swaps.

VIX futures also reflect stock market volatility, and their prices are based on S&P option prices.

I will never understand what HN downvotes. This was a cool conribution. Weird paper, but substantial.