Volatility Review: A look back at the week from a volatility perspective

• Shortened holiday week hit with a never-ending parade of hurricanes
• Don't forget North Korea
• Oh, and the President
• Bonds are screaming
• August options volume is strangely high. So much for vacationing for the month
• VIX up into the 12-handle. Will it hit the low teens?
• VIX Cash: High of 14.06 on Tuesday
• VVIX: 99
• CBOE SKEW Index: 135.39 - 5 points higher than last week

Russell's Weekly Rundown:

• Will people start using weekly options on Monday for the upcoming week's risk?
• CME Fed tool has next potential rate hike at next August, and only 50-50
• Why are people buying vol into the weekend?
• VIX Options on this short week: ADV - 796K; Thurs. - 894K; Weds. - 603K; Tues.- 1.16M; Mon. - Closed.
• VIX Call/Put: 3.4

Hot VIX Strikes:

• 635482 .VIX Oct 18th 25.0 C, chg +4681
• 460502 .VIX Sep 20th 20.0 C, chg -6238
• 414217 .VIX Oct 18th 12.0 P, chg +13048
• 376664 .VIX Oct 18th 15.0 C, chg -70943
• 285530 .VIX Sep 20th 18.0 C, chg +3297
• 268153 .VIX Sep 20th 21.0 C, chg -14404
• 265517 .VIX Sep 20th 23.0 C, chg -1246
• 259376 .VIX Sep 20th 17.0 C, chg -226
• 251586 .VIX Sep 20th 19.0 C, chg +1678
• 249889 .VIX Oct 18th 20.0 C, chg -149520
• Total 12.5m (9.43m Calls, 3.03m Puts)

Volatility Voicemail: Listener Questions and Comments

Options Question of the Week:

As Q4 looms, where are you placing your bullish #Volatility bets? Which has most #Upside by end of 2017? $VIX $AMZN #WTI $GVZ

• Gold Volatility
• Crude Oil Volatility
• S&P 500 Volatility - VIX
• Single Names - $AMZN, etc

Listener Questions:

• Question from Elbu: Seems like everyone is jumping on the short $VIX bandwagon these days. Since when does the NYT cover volatility trading? RE: this article - Day Trading in Wall Street's Complex "Fear Gauge" Proliferates
• Question from Elly: What's the ideal month/strike combo when buying puts on VXX? 6 months / 25% OTM?

Crystal Ball: Wild and reckless prognostication

Where do the hosts think the VIX will close next week?

Last Week

• Mark L.: 10.15
• Mark S.: 10.65
• Russell: 11.11

This Week

• Mark L.: 11.5
• Mark S.: 11.01
• Russell: 12.25