Volatility Views 57:  Turning the Tables on Mark Sebastian

Volatility Review: VIX is back this week, after it ended unchanged at 0.0 before last week's Option Block episodes. Time will tell as we see what happens in Europe. NASDAQ one- and three-month realized volatility has had almost no movement at all, but the trend is surely upward.  Volatility Viewpoint: Long-time panelist Mark Sebastian gets the chance to sit in the guest's seat and discusses what Option Pit is and the world of options education. 

Mail Bag: Answering listener questions.CBOE is in the process of changing the way they list weekly options. How do you think the change will impact weekly options volatility, as well as the way they perform? Thanks again and I love the show. You guys make my commute to work a little more bearable. (Via Facebook from Chris Monty)

In a time spread, which risk/opportunity should I really focus on: gamma or vega? It seems like trading time spreads is essentially finding a proper balance between these two. (Via email from Theodore Johnson, Boise, ID)

I'm and expat American currently living and trading in Germany. As an old-school options trader, I've always considered myself first-and-foremost a volatility trader. I mostly view my positions and I'm always looking for interesting new products like VolContracts, VIX, etc., that will provide me with a new way to hedge/trade volatility. When I moved to Frankfurt, I was very surprised to find that most of my European colleagues don't share that perspective. They aren't up on the latest vol products/research and don't tend to view themselves as vol traders. I've found this baffling so I thought I would write to the authority on volatility to see if I am completely nuts or if this is a well-documented situation. Is vol trading, and the interest in vol products, primarily a localized American phenomenon, or am I just hanging with the wrong crowd over here? (Via email from Charles Stephens, Frankfurt, Germany)

Crystal Ball: We'll have to keep an eye on Europe, but expect little change in realized volatility. There will be a break in S&P in one direction or the other.