Volatility

Both gold and silver are having a rough day to say the least. After a forced slide in the gold complex pushed the metal to sub $1,380, fueled in part by recurring rumors of a large macro/commodity fund taking profits ahead of the year end, numerous stops were triggered, bringing it to nearly $1,370, almost $50 below the all time high reached, oh, yesterday. And since traders are now desperate for volatility, which has disappeared from stocks, the daytrading crowd has taken over both the precious metals space... and the bond market. That said, momentum chasers entering the gold and bond market may have the makings of the greatest comedy witnessed in markets in the past several years.

In addition to the rout in the ES, VIX and GC which we pointed out earlier, there were some additional fireworks behind the scenes in today's after hours session. The CBOE Gold Volatility Index, the ^GVZ plunged by the most in over a year, as the index hit an all time low of 15.92 without the underlying making much of a notable move. The most curious aspect of the trade was that the entire dump occured in the AH session. Many were left scratching their heads over what caused this monstrous unwind in long vol positions: was this the unwind of a massive long ES/short GC arb? We don't know, although if rumors that a major fund is planning to stand for delivery of Dec gold turn out to be true, then obviously someone got confirmation today. Keep a close eye out on the GVZ. Should this price level persist on Monday, then the front futures contract will likely surge.

It was another lackluster day in the market as investors are still trying to regain their bearings from last week's quadruple news high of elections, QE2, the jobs report, and Kat Dennings nude photos being released. With all of the excitement...

The following observations by John Lohman are a must read for all mean reversion junkies. By tracking the correlation between credit expansion and assorted metrics of volatility, Lohman concludes that the one primary tradeoff given up by the investor class (voluntarily) and the broader population (unknowingly) in exchange for a 98% decline in the value of the dollar, and thus purchasing power, since the inception of the Jekyll Island monster, is a constant and gradual decline in volatility. What this means, however, is that by entering the period of greatest systemic deleveraging, America is once again inviting volatility. What is more troubling is that unlike before, the ongoing dollar value destruction is not matched with a favorable attribute, namely an offset vol reduction. In other words, society and the investing class has gotten to the point where the marginal utility from having a Federal Reserve bank, has essentially disappeared. Which is simply all the more reason to disband the most destructive central-planning organization in the history of the communist world.

The ratio between VIX (implied vol as determined by 1 month out SPX options) and VXV (3 month Implied Vol) has just dropped to the lowest it has been since the end of 2006. After hitting a post-Lehman high of just under 1.3, VIX/VXV has plunged to 0.7917, a steep drop of 0.07 in just one day, as near-term equity vol is being aggressively sold, even as forward implied vol remains resistant to day to day changes in the market. Whether or not this is predicated by the QE2 event occurring somewhere inbetween the 2 term points is unknown, and irrelevant, but traders certainly seem to be far more comfortable with 1 month volatility and are selling much more of it than its longer-dated cousin. However, as Chris Cole pointed out earlier, this could be a very dangerous underestimation of the possibility for an exponential jump in near-term vol, in a time when correlations are near all time highs.

For those who follow our periodic updates on intraday stock volume, today's article by the Wall Street Journal which focuses on the dramatic decline in activity during regular working hours will come as no surprise. In a piece looking at prop trading shop Briargate (oh so witty anagram of arbitrage), founded by several former NYSE specialists, we learn that at least one firm (and likely many more) now no longer does any trading during the hours of 11 to 2. As this creates a feedback loop of inactivity, pretty soon the core of daily stock market activity will merely be the half an hour of action at the open, and the dark pool-ETF-open exchange rebalance at the very close, with everything inbetween deemed obsolete. Of course, what this will do, is create even more volatility in trading, force an even greater decline in stock trading volumes (and pain for Wall Street firms), and a further divergence between stocks and fundamentals, as momentum trading gains an even more prominent role in determine "price discovery."

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Boom

Just because it didn't work once, and caused the firm to lose hundreds of millions in Q2 profits, doesn't mean Goldman is done pitching the short vol trade to someone, anyone, who is still stupid enough to listen to the firm's advice (the real important clients are already on the other side). Almost exactly 8 months after the firm came out with its top trade recommendation for 2010, namely the "short S&P 500 Dec10/Dec11 Forward Starting Variance Swap" which was opened at 28.20, with a target of 21, and is now at 30.38, and on which a client made hundreds of millions for doing precisely the opposite (to the chagrin of Goldman's flow desk). One thing to be sure of: Goldman won't be caught on the wrong side of the trade twice in a row. At least when Goldman was constantly wrong in its EURUSD recos, it would change the recommendation (over and over). Here, clients are not so lucky. Which can only mean that the capital at risk now (for Goldman) is quite material. And with Goldman selling vol harder than ever (not to mention hedging its own underwater variance swap legacy position), and Hatzius more pessimistic on the economy than ever, something big must be coming.

"The S&P500 fell about 7% by early February. Then, it went straight up, rising about 16% by late April only to give back all those gains and a bit more by the end of June. Just after the economy finally appeared to be recovering earlier this year, a series of weak economic data have put the recovery into question. What will happen next? We have no idea. We have maintained a conservative and defensive portfolio, with a small net long position throughout and have almost entirely avoided the volatility of the schizophrenic market...We made some gains on our macro positions (most notably gold, which appreciated from $1,113 to $1,244 per ounce during the quarter)." - David Einhorn

Faber's latest market call in a Bloomberg interview on May 24, plus my comment and a technical look of the SPX and gold.

A 3 bps move in a currency in a short period of time is the endgame for any FX trader. The ECB is now indirectly performing stealth operations via the SNB. And as the net result is a weaker EURUSD, one could see the Fed's finger in this.

Here we go:

A refresh on Rule 48:

"Rule 48 is intended to be invoked only in those situations where
the potential for extreme market volatility would likely impair
Floor-wide operations at the Exchange by impeding the fair and orderly
opening of securities."

Implied volatility for the big banks is down across the board, just about where it was before the system went into convulsions. This implies the coast is clear, as do the share prices of many banks.
Hard core forensic and fundamental analysis implies otherwise. So does the Fed's actions, which still incorporates ZIRP policy, as well as the waffling at FASB. We will either have smooth sailing from this point on out or there is a nasty surprise waiting (on and off balance sheet) for bank investors in the near future. I invite readers to weigh in with their opinions.