Do you ever get the sense that you're at the end of a grand ponzi scheme and suddenly you are the last guy holding out waiting for your money to come in?
I'm starting to get that creepy feeling and I started looking around for a bit of downside protection today. Started shifting away from a lot of my small-cap stocks into either cash or puts today.
Without question my "feelings" are very non-technical and would be thrown out the door by most traders - but having watched the market in the last few days (specifically the US), one can't help but get the sense that the market is running out of steam.
Thought this made for interesting reading - this is the volume traded on Put warrant TOPSBV which is a warrant issued by Standard Bank on the Top40.
Monday - 14 September - 13.5m warrants traded
Tuesday - 15 September - 1.3m warrants traded
Wednesday - 16 September - 6.4m warrants traded
Thursday - 17 September - 7.7m warrants traded
There is a lot of action around this warrant and I get the sense that people are starting to buy some protection against downside risk.
Looking at the US markets this evening I see that they seem to be bumping their heads around 9800 level on the Dow and people have stopped to ask themselves - what next?
I still have a long position on Anglo Gold which seems to be doing ok although I am watching it quite closely. If it doesn't kick on again tomorrow I might be tempted to exit it although I wouldn't be surprised to see gold move up going into the weekend. Looking at the ADR (AU:US) its off just under 2% but the JSE listed counter has not been helped by the dollar being so weak - a little slip in the rand and the gold shares could fly.
Warrants / spreads / products etc
An observation that I thought could be the opening for an interesting debate around linear and de-linear trading products in a market such as these.
I haven't traded warrants in ages, preferring to instead use things like the spread trading platforms offered by our favourite bucketshop. However I was finding myself getting stopped out at losses on that particular platform with some regularity even if the overall trend I was looking at was right.
While there has been this big move toward straight line products like spreads, knock-outs and binary options there is still an important place for a product such as warrants which can absorb some sideways volatilty (without hopefully being strangled by time decay).
The importance of picking the right product to work alongside your trade is often as important as picking the right trade - it means sweet bugger all if you can't execute on the right strategy.
Showing posts with label binary options. Show all posts
Showing posts with label binary options. Show all posts
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Binary options - news
Dunno if there are any South African day traders out there who have been looking for a way to participate in the action in the US automakers and banks but a mate of mine just SMS'd me an interesting piece of news...
... The Justrade binaries option trading platform has added contracts on Citi Group and Ford which could be a bit of fun to trade.
... The Justrade binaries option trading platform has added contracts on Citi Group and Ford which could be a bit of fun to trade.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Justrade.com
Bond Exchange of South Africa Limited rolls out the first online binary options exchange in Africa
The Bond Exchange of South Africa Limited (BESA), through a joint venture with Market Tech (Pty) Ltd (Market Tech), is proud to announce the rollout of Africa’s first online binary options exchange, Justrade.com.
Garth Greubel, BESA’s CEO explains, “The rollout of Justrade.com is an important component in the continued growth of our business as we maintain our focus of building better markets and the development of new product lines and revenue streams beyond the realm of our traditional bond franchise.”
The platform is the brainchild of co-founders and directors of Market Tech, Rory Mackay and Michael Franze. Before starting the company, Rory spent his career in financial markets, trading currency, commodities, bonds and interest rate derivatives at ABSA, Standard Bank (SCMB) and Investec. Michael has a thorough understanding of telecommunications and has operated as a consultant in the past two years, particularly fixed mobile convergence, whilst at the same time developing the online platform for Justrade.
Says Mackay, “Justrade.com opens the door to trading for individuals and institutions in an efficient, affordable and exciting way.
By allowing our users to choose the way they want to transact via the Justrade or Protrade platforms, both easily accessible on www.justrade.com, we hope to be able to satisfy the needs of novices new to the workings of financial markets, as well as those who are experienced market participants.”
The concept of binary options exchanges, although new to domestic markets, is well established internationally, particularly in the US and the UK. Says Mackay, “In 2007, the Options Clearing Corporation proposed a rule to allow trade in binary options. In 2008, several exchanges began to adopt binary options, including the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOT) and American Stock Exchange. So, whilst binary options are relatively new, their potential has been noticed and embraced by some of the biggest names in the Exchange business.”
Online binary options markets such as Betfair.com in the UK and Intrade.com and HedgeStreet.com in the US are well established. Betfair.com trades more transactions per day than the London Stock Exchange. Intrade.com has turned over USD4 billion since 2002. “Whilst these markets allow for trading in a range of contracts (political, sports or financial), our platform is differentiated by the fact that we offer trade in financial contracts only.” continues Mackay.
Greubel adds, “The joint venture with Market Tech has allowed us to unlock the value inherent in our exchange license, whilst allowing our partners to bring valuable trading and technical expertise to the table. Collectively, these ingredients have been combined to produce Justrade.com, which we look forward to seeing grow in depth and liquidity in coming months.”
The Bond Exchange of South Africa Limited (BESA), through a joint venture with Market Tech (Pty) Ltd (Market Tech), is proud to announce the rollout of Africa’s first online binary options exchange, Justrade.com.
Garth Greubel, BESA’s CEO explains, “The rollout of Justrade.com is an important component in the continued growth of our business as we maintain our focus of building better markets and the development of new product lines and revenue streams beyond the realm of our traditional bond franchise.”
The platform is the brainchild of co-founders and directors of Market Tech, Rory Mackay and Michael Franze. Before starting the company, Rory spent his career in financial markets, trading currency, commodities, bonds and interest rate derivatives at ABSA, Standard Bank (SCMB) and Investec. Michael has a thorough understanding of telecommunications and has operated as a consultant in the past two years, particularly fixed mobile convergence, whilst at the same time developing the online platform for Justrade.
Says Mackay, “Justrade.com opens the door to trading for individuals and institutions in an efficient, affordable and exciting way.
By allowing our users to choose the way they want to transact via the Justrade or Protrade platforms, both easily accessible on www.justrade.com, we hope to be able to satisfy the needs of novices new to the workings of financial markets, as well as those who are experienced market participants.”
The concept of binary options exchanges, although new to domestic markets, is well established internationally, particularly in the US and the UK. Says Mackay, “In 2007, the Options Clearing Corporation proposed a rule to allow trade in binary options. In 2008, several exchanges began to adopt binary options, including the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOT) and American Stock Exchange. So, whilst binary options are relatively new, their potential has been noticed and embraced by some of the biggest names in the Exchange business.”
Online binary options markets such as Betfair.com in the UK and Intrade.com and HedgeStreet.com in the US are well established. Betfair.com trades more transactions per day than the London Stock Exchange. Intrade.com has turned over USD4 billion since 2002. “Whilst these markets allow for trading in a range of contracts (political, sports or financial), our platform is differentiated by the fact that we offer trade in financial contracts only.” continues Mackay.
Greubel adds, “The joint venture with Market Tech has allowed us to unlock the value inherent in our exchange license, whilst allowing our partners to bring valuable trading and technical expertise to the table. Collectively, these ingredients have been combined to produce Justrade.com, which we look forward to seeing grow in depth and liquidity in coming months.”
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