Was it just a week ago [4] that we suggested buying Burlington Northern CDS (credit protection) as the cheapest Black-Swan bet against Buffett and Bernanke's ebullience? The answer is yes. And from the start of May the cost of protection has doubled from around 15bps to just over 30bps - quite a surge as it seems more than a few funds thought this a worthwhile trade to tuck in the back pocket at a minimal carry cost. At 32bps mid (31/34), it remains cheap still from a carry perspective and while we are approaching the initial profit target, the reason for buying this low cost, long vol trade is the huge convexity upside should things go a little more pear-shaped for the Octogenarian-of-Omaha - or more specifically for the US equities in general. We do note that if this keeps pushing past our other profit-targets then some should be covered since counterparty risk will rapidly become an issue (unless the Fed officially becomes a CCP).
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Chart: Bloomberg