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Tales of a Bridgewater Associate: The Fine Art of Building Portfolios

Last month, we had the privilege of attending the Milken Institute’s Asia Summit in Singapore, often seen as the West’s gateway to Asia. Prominent figures, including Bridgewater Associates Founder and CIO mentor Ray Dalio, shared insights on navigating a rapidly transforming, multipolar world. Dalio focused on the major forces shaping global conditions—such as debt cycles, political instability, great power conflicts, climate change, and technology—and highlighted where investment opportunities lie. While the U.S. market may be priced to perfection, Dalio pointed to regions like China and other parts of Asia as offering greater potential.

Fresh from Singapore, we sat down with Andy Constan, Founder, CEO, and CIO of Damped Spring Advisors, whom you may recognize from his appearances on CNBC or Twitter/X. Constan’s background is rooted in extracting value through “relative value” trades, but since the Global Financial Crisis and his time at Bridgewater Associates working alongside Ray Dalio, he’s shifted his focus to macroeconomic factors. In this discussion, we explore his experience building Bridgewater’s volatility pillar, the vulnerability of traditional alpha strategies during macro crises, the bull market for metals, stock market expectations, and more.

As you may have noticed, there’s a progression in our podcast episodes. In the first, Mat Cashman, a former market maker, broke down what options are and how they’re traded. In the second, Vuk Vukovic, founder of an upstart hedge fund, discussed idea generation and using options as tools to express those ideas. Now, in our third episode, Constan dives into how options fit into a balanced portfolio. The key takeaway? While options can enhance portfolios, most investors don’t need leveraged exposure to markets. A balanced portfolio in 2025 can remain straightforward, and here’s an expert telling you just that.

The video can be accessed at this link and below. An edited transcript follows.

I recently attended the Milken Institute event in Singapore, where Ray Dalio was a keynote speaker. Since you worked alongside Ray at Bridgewater, I thought it would be interesting to hear your perspective. Some key themes he discussed included multipolarity, deglobalization, internal disorder, elections, and the fact that a few companies drive much of the S&P 500 Index’s performance. Could you start by sharing a bit about your time at Bridgewater? What was your role, and how may those themes and what you learned there shape your portfolio today?

Before joining Bridgewater Associates as a senior research team member, I ran a hedge fund, focusing heavily on equity relative value, volatility, capital structure arbitrage, risk arbitrage, long-short strategies, and statistical arbitrage. Through my hedge fund experience, I looked at volatility across different asset classes—rates, equity, currency, and commodities. By the time I joined Bridgewater, I had accumulated 23 years of experience, including 18 years at Salomon Brothers, where I was involved in market-making and prop trading, and five years running my hedge fund.

When I joined in 2010, the idea was to see if I could contribute to Bridgewater’s investment process in areas they hadn’t previously explored. I created the volatility pillar within their idea generation team, working closely with Ray DalioGreg JensenBob Prince, who were the three CIOs at the time, and several talented young individuals, including Karen Karniol-Tambour, now the Co-CIO, and Bob Elliott, now a well-known figure on Twitter/X who was always excellent at asking probing questions.

This role exposed me to macro factors I hadn’t previously focused on. I noticed that traditional alpha strategies often blew up during macroeconomic crises, convincing me that many of them—like long-short equity, leveraged derivatives, and convertible bond arbitrage—were vulnerable to the same risks. The Global Financial Crisis clearly illustrated how macro factors, along with central bank actions like quantitative easing and tightening or lowering and raising interest rates, influence monetary conditions and the availability of leverage; when financial conditions tighten, seemingly uncorrelated alpha strategies unravel.

Bridgewater’s focus is on directionally trading the most liquid assets globally. Before my time there, they primarily traded futures and cash securities, with little exposure to options or derivatives. So, my role was to explore whether the volatility market could offer insights to enhance their directional trading or even serve as a new asset class responding to their existing macro indicators.

Graphic: Retrieved from Renato Leonard Capelj, founder at Physik Invest.

Does Bridgewater still have this volatility pillar?

While my connections at Bridgewater remain strong, we don’t discuss business. Like most hedge funds, their work happens behind closed doors. In any case, I don’t believe they’re involved in those markets, as they’re typically too small for their size; instead, it is more likely they use some of the strategies I helped develop—focused on volatility, credit markets, and other convex assets—to refine their directional views on traditional, highly liquid macro assets.

Were there any trades—or even just ones you were eager to pursue—that Bridgewater decided not to go after?

Three days after I joined, the Flash Crash occurred. The market was already on edge, particularly with European turmoil. Earlier that spring, the Greek debt market had been rocked by significantly higher deficit expectations, sparking the European debt crisis just ahead of the Flash Crash. When the crash happened, it cemented for many investors that a more volatile post-GFC regime would persist for years.

Graphic: Retrieved from Andy Constan.

Why does this matter? 

A persistent demand for long-term equity volatility has run over many funds and investors throughout my career. This demand primarily comes from insurance companies, which can’t sell traditional investment management products but want to, as their clients are the same retail investors who may purchase money management services for their 401(k)s or pensions. Essentially, the clients have savings they want to invest, and the insurance companies have life insurance policies—like Term Life—that historically acted as fixed-income securities. You get a guaranteed death benefit, and your policy accrues value based on interest rates.

With interest rates incredibly low then, insurance companies in the mid-1990s began creating securities that offered guaranteed death benefits with upside exposure to equities. They bought equity portfolios, added interest rate swaps, and purchased puts on the S&P 500, creating a bond with a call option on equities. This enabled clients to receive a guaranteed death benefit with potential equity performance upside. Accordingly, the aggressive demand for these products pushed up long-term volatility, as these were 10- to 20-year death benefit products, and long-term call options became highly sought. This affected the dividend market—dealers who sold these calls became exposed to dividends.

Initially, Swiss banks like UBS O’Connor and First Boston and some French banks supplied the calls. However, by the mid-to-late ’90s, the demand overwhelmed them as markets grew more volatile, mainly due to the increasing tech concentration in the index. Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) stepped in, selling global index volatility for five years. This did not end well, and after LTCM was unwound, long-term volatility remained well-bid as insurance companies continued buying these structures and selling them to clients. Warren Buffett eventually stepped in during the GFC, selling $9 billion notional in five- to ten-year S&P puts. He saw it as a good bet, figuring that buying stocks at $700 in ten years after collecting premiums was favorable. Uniquely, he wasn’t required to post any collateral—a situation unlikely ever to repeat. However, Buffett eventually unwound this position as the market rallied following the GFC lows around the Flash Crash.

With Buffett out of the game, no willing sellers of long-term volatility existed. The banks and LTCM had been burned, and even though Buffett avoided getting burned, his exposure to Vega (i.e., the impact of volatility on an option’s price) still cost him. 

At one point, we saw 10-year implied volatility reach 38%. I spent weeks crafting a case for Bridgewater, supported by data, evaluating the size and forward demand of the insurance market and potential players who could self-insure. We analyzed whether selling 38 implied volatility was a good trade and gathered historical data from every stock market, from 1780s UK to post-Soviet Russia, to assess risk. As it turns out, selling a 38 implied volatility would have been profitable in most cases. The only exceptions were Germany, Italy, and Japan, where WWII drove realized volatility above 38. Never before in the US, UK, or elsewhere had there been sustained realized 38 volatility. 

Confident in my findings, I presented this trade idea to Bridgewater, but we ultimately didn’t execute it. The following year, realized volatility dropped below 20, and implied volatility fell by 12-13 points. Had Bridgewater made the trade, it could have likely netted $1 billion in the first year and over $20 billion over the decade.

Did that, in terms of how they made decisions and portfolios guide how you think about making decisions today?

Yes. Bob Prince pulled me aside during the process and said, “We like what you’ve done, but we need you to think differently.”

At Bridgewater, the way they want you to think makes perfect sense. If you’re serious about having a long-term investment process, you need something you can use consistently, day in and day out. You’re not just looking to trade—you want an alpha stream that endures. That’s the real asset. Once a trade is done, if it can’t be repeated, all the effort is wasted. Bridgewater’s focus—and anyone involved in systematic trading should—was discovering long-term alpha streams.

The biggest constraint, both at Bridgewater and everywhere, is time. You have to be selective about where you invest it. For CIOs, learning to trade options proficiently would have been a massive time drain and likely hurt their performance in building a sustainable, long-term alpha-generating engine, which already demanded their full attention.

So that’s the key—what is your time worth? I believe they made the right decision. Investment researchers should focus on creating lasting alpha, not short-term trades.

What did your early work at Solomon Brothers—being on the Brady Commission following the 1987 stock market crash—teach you about the interplay between participants and how this affects liquidity and market outcomes?

At 23, I was fortunate to be assigned to the Brady Commission. What set me apart was a relatively ordinary skill for my generation: I was particularly good at working with spreadsheets. This put me at the table with five senior investment professionals from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan, and the head of research at Tudor, who had made a fortune during the crash. I analyzed actual trades with the names of brokers and end clients—tracking who bought and sold during the crash across multiple markets, including S&P 500 futures, S&P 500 baskets, and rates.

This experience shaped my understanding of markets. Ever since, I’ve been focused on answering who owns what and why. Today, we call this flow and positioning, but knowing who held what and the pressures they faced was invaluable back then. Were they in a drawdown? Were they doing well? Did they see inflows or outflows? Were they levered or not? Understanding these dynamics—and who the players and their end investors were—has been the foundation of my life’s work.

Is that understanding of flow and positioning what guided your career following Solomon Brothers, even when you had the chance to work with firms like Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM)?

When many of my friends at Solomon’s prop desk went off to start LTCM, I had the worst year of my career in 1995. My convertible bond strategy and most hedge funds collapsed due to the Fed tightening. I asked those guys for a job multiple times. Thank God I didn’t get it, but they were the most brilliant people I knew back then. At the time, Solomon had just gotten past the treasury bond auction scandal, which John Meriwether, at least in part, oversaw, and that led to his departure to start LTCM. By then, Solomon was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 for the first ten years of my career—bar none. So, when LTCM launched, Solomon wasn’t a great place to be. I thought it through carefully—and even acted on it—but they didn’t want me.

Following LTCM, is that when things started clicking for you from a macro perspective regarding the relationship between macro crises and relative value trades failing? Moving into the future, what are some of the big macro themes you think may affect market outcomes significantly over the next few years?

Honestly, back in 1995, I had no idea what macroeconomics meant or how it worked, and I didn’t fully appreciate its significance. By 1998, it started becoming more apparent with the LTCM unwind. It wasn’t just LTCM; many firms, including Citibank, where I worked, were involved in government bond arbitrage. LTCM was simply the poster child, so attention gravitated there. By 2004, when I started my hedge fund, people were beginning to consider the possibility of hedge funds deleveraging as a cause of widespread contagion. Still, it wasn’t until 2007 and 2008 that I truly grasped the scale of that risk.

In any case, I prefer to operate on a one-year horizon. What’s clear now is that the Fed, more so than other central banks, has concluded that inflation is no longer a concern—it’s not going to re-accelerate. Because of that, they can lower interest rates relatively quickly, even if the job market doesn’t weaken enough to force their hand. You could call it a normalization. Since mid-December of last year, when the Fed started emphasizing the importance of real short-term interest rates, we’ve been on this path toward normalization. The idea is that real short-term rates dictate both inflation and economic strength, and the Fed is fully committed to returning to a normal interest rate—quickly.

The critical question is, are they right? That’s what markets are wrestling with now. Are they correct in saying that financial conditions are tight and that lowering short-term rates will ease those conditions, which flow through to stimulate the economy? Typically, the Fed doesn’t try to steer the economy directly; instead, it responds to and offsets economic pressures. When inflation rises, they hike—and do it aggressively, though often a bit late until they’re confident. They keep hiking until they’re optimistic inflation is rolling over. Conversely, when they cut rates, they should, in my view, be leaning against a trend and responding to a slowing economy that’s disinflationary and underperforming on growth and jobs.

We’re in a strange situation now. The Fed doesn’t need to combat inflation, and they certainly don’t believe they need to. Instead, they think that by acting too cautiously, they risk over-correcting. So they’re normalizing rates. But what does “normal” even mean now? Is the current path of normalization too aggressive? At the heart of it, this revolves around the pace and destination of rate cuts. That’s what we need to watch moving forward.

There’s also an election coming in early November, which could impact the economy. Politically, I believe it doesn’t matter much which party is in power—they both tend to increase the pie by accumulating more debt and engaging in deficit spending. The difference lies in who and how they distribute that pie. It matters for specific sectors and individual stocks. One might think that oil would do very well under Harris and very poorly under Trump, but one might think that oil companies are going to do very well under Trump and very poorly under Harris. It’s complicated but consequential.

Post-election, I’ll be watching to see if there’s any sign of austerity from either party, though I expect none. We’ll likely continue running budget deficits, though they won’t grow as fast. COVID drove a rapid spike in spending, but we’ve since returned to a more constant deficit. The change in expenditures, rather than the percentage of GDP, influences the economy. If spending remains steady, it acts as a drag. If it grows, it stimulates the economy. How that unfolds depends on the balance of power between the House, Senate, and the Oval Office.

Looking ahead, the Fed will cut rates to around 3%, leading to a soft landing—no significant increase in unemployment and inflation hitting their target. I find that scenario unlikely. It’s like a skipper on a battleship trying to dock perfectly by pulling an antiquated lever. The Fed doesn’t have that much control by tweaking the short-term interest rate; financial conditions matter most to me: the availability and cost of financing for consumers and companies, accumulated wealth, and the health of the dominant financial institutions. Right now, all indicators suggest consumption and investment conditions are favorable. At the corporate and individual levels, income is strong, and corporate profits are expected to remain robust. There’s no need to dissave or leverage up, but they can if they want to consume.

Given these conditions, I’ve remained bullish on the economy since April 2020 and still don’t foresee a recession. This leads me to question why the Fed is normalizing rates and why they believe this won’t stimulate consumption and investment. I think the 3% rate target is too low. If I’m right, inflation will stay sticky or rise slightly relative to their target—not dramatically, as there’s no supply shock, but the demand and monetary sides are still stimulative. Why would major corporations start cutting jobs when they’re reporting record earnings and the economy sees record GDP? I don’t expect a significant weakening in the job market, especially as the government continues deficit spending. In my view, the direction the central bank is taking—normalizing rates—is misaligned with the economy’s current strength.

Is this preemptive action by the Fed a mistake?

I don’t know. We’ll have to see what Jerome Powell does. He cut rates by 50 basis points, and now (September 25), the markets are pricing in about a 17% chance that the two 25 basis point cuts projected for the next two meetings will happen. There’s an 83% chance we’ll see two 50 basis point cuts or one 50 and one 25. The trough interest rate they’re targeting is now around 2.87%, the lowest we’ve seen, except for a brief moment on August 5 when people called for emergency cuts of 75 basis points. So, that’s a significant drop. Christopher Waller and other Fed officials have indicated that rates will likely come down over the next 6 to 12 months, and there’s plenty of room for further cuts. The Fed’s ‘dots’ representing the minimum projected path for interest rates validate this. Meanwhile, inflation expectations have risen daily since the Fed meeting, with gold at all-time highs, bitcoin rallying, stocks not so much, and long-term bonds selling off. Only very short-term bonds are rallying.

Gold is inversely correlated with rates, correct? So, you have other factors, like buying from central banks, that may help buoy it in recent years, correct?

Yes. Many central banks have been increasing their gold holdings — the obvious ones are China and Saudi Arabia. Switzerland is another, and some of the buying may involve private citizens in some cases. There’s been a broader trend among countries that don’t want to hold U.S. assets, particularly adversaries, turning to alternatives like gold. But this flow is unpredictable. Prices slow it down; people don’t buy gold at any price. It’s fairly inelastic — they’ll buy at most prices but not at every price. 

In my framework, I’ve always been bullish on gold since leaving Bridgewater, where I was indoctrinated to understand the value of non-fiat currencies. I haven’t yet bought into Bitcoin because its price is still too correlated with the Nasdaq for me to consider it a true monetary equivalent, though it may become one someday.

Moreover, there are a few ways inflation arises. Demand-side inflation happens when people decide to spend more, which can vary with societal changes and human behavior. Supply-side inflation can come from labor shortages and rising costs in services and manufacturing. However, the latter can’t be hedged with gold because its value doesn’t depend on these forces. The key to gold is its relationship to currency. The more currency that gets printed, the less valuable it becomes relative to gold. Gold is a hedge against monetary inflation. That said, I’m cautious about gold prices in the short term because we’ve diverged from the following three core factors I look at.

First, I see gold as a real currency with a zero coupon. Real rates have fallen but recently stabilized. Despite this, the drop in real rates has driven up gold prices considerably, making gold seem overvalued relative to real rates.

Second, I consider the credibility of central banks. Are they becoming more or less credible? You could debate that all day. You hold gold if you believe there’s less confidence in central banks. I think they’ve done a decent job tackling inflation, at least in perception, which should be bearish for gold since the Fed’s “mission accomplished” suggests stronger credibility. 

Lastly, I look at monetary inflation. The U.S. has pretty much wrapped up its money-printing experiment. Sure, we still run a deficit, but that’s different from the aggressive balance sheet expansion we saw before. The balance sheet is still too large, but the impulse has subsided. Meanwhile, China has signaled a willingness to ease credit conditions, lower rates, and encourage banks to buy equities, though they haven’t engaged in fiscal stimulus yet. If they do, China could be where the U.S. was in 2021, which would be bullish for gold. I suspect part of the reason for increased Chinese gold buying is the expectation of significant monetary stimulus. We’ll have to wait and see if that happens, but it would be very bullish for gold if it does.

All things considered, I think gold is overpriced, so I’m trimming my gold positions in my beta portfolio. I’ve even placed a small speculative short position in my alpha portfolio. It’s still a bull market for gold, but bull markets do correct, and I’ll probably be buying the dip when it happens.

Graphic: Retrieved from Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) via The Market Ear.

In the context of inflation staying sticky, could you foresee a period when, even if markets rise in nominal terms, in real terms, they don’t go anywhere or go down?

The ideal scenario for a broad portfolio to meaningfully outperform cash is if the central bank eases more than expected and inflation doesn’t respond. If that happens, every asset will outperform cash. Is it possible? Of course—it’s happened. Assets have done very well relative to cash this year despite a brief drop in August. But the question remains: can this continue indefinitely? There’s a natural limit to asset growth. Still, for now, the central bank seems more dovish each day despite no supporting data. It raises the question of whether they have an agenda. I don’t believe they know more than anyone else, but their actions suggest a strong confidence that inflation won’t rise. If they’re right, assets should hold up. Will they perform exceptionally next year? Probably not. But with cash yielding less than 4% on a one-year bill, that’s becoming less attractive too.

Leading to the volatility during August, we saw some rotation beneath the surface of the index, with movement into small caps and some softening in names like Nvidia. One could say that foreshadowed further weakness. Still, did you ever anticipate the unsettling volatility we saw and the subsequent quick recovery?

I wrote a fairly extensive piece on the dispersion trade and was bearish on the idea, expecting it to unwind. I was mindful of the yen’s strengthening and role in deleveraging, especially after seeing the wild moves in July following the CPI report. There was some instability, which I anticipated. But, in hindsight, the only real opportunity was to go all-in long at the bottom in August. I covered some positions and bought a bit more, but I didn’t cover enough, and I’m surprised by how strong the reversal was. Looking back, it’s clear the markets were already convinced the Fed would ease aggressively, and that’s where we stand now.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

I saw a lot of commentary about how some of that risky positioning could have been doubling down following the August drop. Do you get concerned that this foreshadows something bigger happening in the future?

Everyone currently in the market is where they want to be. Their risk managers are comfortable, they’re comfortable, and they’re not over-leveraged. There’s no one delaying a margin call right now. These speculative unwinds happen fast unless they’re systemic and start feeding on each other. But we didn’t see that. More importantly, there was no sign of any banking institution struggling. The bigger story is consistent (i.e., passive) investment driven by strong incomes, robust job markets, steady 401(k) contributions, insurance plans, and government spending. In addition, reinvesting income from existing investments continues to fuel this trend. From what I see, it’s fairly leveraged, but only a significant drawdown would cause that to reverse.

And when you say meaningful drawdown, what does that look like?

10% corrections would probably mean a dip is less likely to be bought. You know, a 5% correction is just getting bought.

Could you ever foresee, though we have things in place to prevent such a thing from occurring again, a 1987-type crash unwinding some of this risky positioning in a big way? How would that look?

The odds of a stock market crash are low. A slower correction is more likely than a crash.

We had this rapid move down, and we’ve come back up. With markets now near all-time highs, how do you think about portfolio structuring? You talked a bit about positioning in gold, equities, etc. How do you think about structuring a portfolio, and do you look at things like volatility or skew levels as an input or guide?

When constructing a portfolio, the first step is to clarify your goals. For most people, the aim should be building a balanced portfolio that’s diversified across growth and inflation risks. It’s important not to focus on timing markets or picking specific asset classes. Instead, set it and forget it, with a long-term horizon of 10-20 years. Of course, some money will be needed sooner, so you must manage that more conservatively. Depending on your age and job prospects, you might adjust your risk tolerance—the better your prospects, the more risk you can afford.

My advice? Don’t spend time betting on markets. Focus on building a “set it and forget it” beta portfolio of long assets and keep adding to it. Spend your energy earning money outside the market instead. Speculating on markets is tough. It’s a zero-sum game—your gain is someone else’s loss, and that person is likely smart and motivated. It’s “Fight Night,” not passive investing. Thinking you’ll get lucky? These are sharks out there who will devour you. Competing against them far exceeds the costs of gambling in a casino. It’s like playing poker, not blackjack or craps. If you enter the game, you better be confident in your strategy because the competition is fierce.

If I’m not sleeping, I’m working to maintain whatever edge I might have, and I’m still unsure if I even have one. So, how do I build portfolios? Cautiously, with low confidence, sticking to what I know. I balance risk management, never going all in and grinding through it, just like Joey Knish, John Turturro’s character in Rounders. That’s the guy I want to be.

In terms of Damped Spring’s story, what do you want to do there? You’ve been running that for a few years, starting with a very small followership, and then you scaled that up. You’ve gotten to this point? What’s next?

I have a life I enjoy. I maintain relationships with a few hundred institutional clients, and over 15 of the largest firms value my insights. I provide them with my research, and I’ve also built deep connections with professionals—many of whom prefer to remain anonymous—who want to be members of Damped Spring. These members ask me questions like yours, and I give them data-driven answers. My goal is to meet them wherever they are on their learning curve and help them progress in a very hands-on way. Every day, I work with clients, answering their questions thoughtfully or being upfront if I don’t have the answer. I find that incredibly rewarding.

The financial side is a small part; it’s not about the money for me. Institutions pay because they value the service, and I charge individuals mainly to ensure they’re serious and to avoid wasting time with internet trolls. But people care—they want to be part of this community and learn from each other, which is wonderful. I’ll keep doing it for as long as I can add value and people want to hear what I say.

I’ve also started “2 Gray Beards” with Nick Givanovic. It’s a different approach—we offer low-touch, 20-minute videos once a week explaining what’s happening worldwide and what it means for long-only portfolios. People interested in 2 Gray Beards often don’t have much time to consider their investments. Many rely on their financial advisor or money manager, who might charge 80 basis points a year—say $40,000 for someone with decent wealth—and often, they don’t fully understand what the advisor says.

We aim to reach these end clients directly and say, “Here’s what’s happening. Watch these videos for 20 minutes a week for a few months, maybe half a year, and I guarantee you’ll be able to have a more meaningful conversation with your financial advisor. If we’re successful, you might understand your portfolio better than your advisor.” Nick and I see this as valuable and love doing it.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the last four years? It could be good or bad.

Underestimating how far momentum could take the market, whether up or down. I was bullish from April 2020 to February 2022, and I thought a 5 or 10% correction in 2022 would be the extent of it—but I stayed long for too long. Likewise, as markets bounced, I held onto my short positions for too long. What’s interesting to me is the role of momentum. It seems to be a more dominant factor than my models have suggested, and while I’m addressing it, it’s still somewhat unclear whether this is driven by momentum strategies or just passive money flows. I’m still learning, but that’s what I’m focused on most right now.

Well, that ties it up. I appreciate your time. It is an honor. Is there something else you’d like to add?

Recognize that beta is the way to go—it’s not difficult, and anyone can guide you through it. However, be cautious not to get too caught up in short-term trading.


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Categories
Commentary

Take The Money And Run

In their Daily Observation, dated January 4, 2000, Bridgewater Associates argued each decade was inclined to be more dissimilar to the preceding one.

“Most people who experienced consistent reinforcement for ten years were inclined to believe that this would continue indefinitely,” the authors Ray Dalio et al. said, pointing to the situation that preceded stock investors’ disappointment in the 1970s, akin to present perceptions. Investors took untimely risks that proved costly. By the late 1970s, influenced by the trauma of inflation, they shifted towards hedge assets.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

The report underscored a significant point: “Thirty years of prosperity and peace created a faith that our problems will be resolved.” Does this sound familiar? Dalio speculates we will soon test the resilience of the existing order and the containment, or lack thereof, of international conflicts. 

Let’s take a step back. What has transpired?

Over many decades, policymakers orchestrated a “growth engine,” nurturing innovation and globalization, inadvertently widening the wealth gap. The urgency to fix disparities, heightened by a pandemic, suggests the next decade will unfold differently, marked by rolling crises.

Inflation & protectionism & conflict, oh my! 

Graphic: Retrieved from TIME. China’s emergence as a global competitor is visualized.

This secular narrative is meticulously explored in our “Climbing A Wall Of Worry” letter. Resolving supply-chain disruptions and commodity deflation helped alleviate overall inflation concerns in the short term. Fiscal boosts, low unemployment, and wage inflation bolstered economic resilience. Pundits are now invoking terms like “soft-landing” and “Goldilocks,” capturing the current sentiment.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bank of America Global Research.

“The picture that market prices are now painting is for inflation to fall to central banks’ targets, for real growth to be moderate, and for central banks to lower interest rates fairly quickly—so the markets are now reflecting a Goldilocks economy,” Dalio says himself. 

The economic outlook for 2024 seems less impressive despite lingering market support from previous stimulations. Market prices indicate five cuts, reducing the target rate range from 525-550 to 400-425 basis points. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who generally holds hawkish views, concurs that “the FOMC will be able to lower the target range for the federal funds rate this year.” However, he cautions against anticipating as many cuts, asserting that, despite noisy data, current policy is appropriate and should persist in exerting downward pressure on demand.

Graphic: Retrieved from CME Group on January 21, 2024.

In a different scenario, where higher real interest rates persist, it would negatively affect the economy. A hard landing would be risked, Fabian Wintersberger believes, leading to a fall in GDP and escalating debt ratios. Regardless of the path, the private sector will likely reduce investment and continue deleveraging for as long as feasible.

Graphic: Retrieved from Simplify Asset Management. High Yield Index Years to Maturity suggests organizations find refinancing or reissuing debt difficult, primarily due to the high costs associated with the risk-free component. This situation is reminiscent of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), where uncertainty in credit markets hindered entities from refinancing.

What does all this mean for the stock market? Investors across all time frames are ultra-enthusiastic, bidding products like the S&P 500 to new highs. However, breadth could be more exciting, judging by the Russell 2000 and equal-weighted indexes.

Graphic: Retrieved from marketcharts.com via Callum Thomas.

Such is the takeaway when looking at market internals also.

Graphic: Retrieved from StockCharts.com.

So, what’s the story? Bloomberg says, “This isn’t your father’s S&P 500. Don’t worry about valuations.”

Typically, these statements raise promote caution. However, investors seem to see no alternative at the moment. The market is fueled by enthusiastic buying of a handful of stocks “accumulating greater and greater weighting.” While the forward P/E of the equal-weight S&P 500 aligns with pre-pandemic averages, the so-called Magnificent 7, steering the well-known S&P 500 (i.e., the SPX), boasts a higher value at 28.

Accordingly, over the shorter term, there are risks, including the market pausing here to “demand some deliverables” and the passage of options expiries last week. 

“The reflexive nature of the market tells us that what we are witnessing here is much more mechanical than anything and probably has nothing to do with what is happening in the real world,” Mott Capital Management’s Michael Kramer discusses.

Graphic: Retrieved from SpotGamma.

SpotGamma explains there was “rhythmic buying” of options “related to the QYLD Nasdaq BuyWrite ETF, which rolls the Thursday before monthly OPEX.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via Michael Kramer. Notice the amount of call open interest.

Kramer, aligning with views expressed by individuals such as Cem Karsan from Kai Volatility, anticipates a potential reversal. The premise is based on the assumption that investors owned a substantial share of call options. With a reduction in their quantity and a decrease in the risk they pose to counterparts engaged in hedging through long stocks and futures, there is expected to be diminished “mechanical” support in the subsequent weeks. SpotGamma emphasizes that Monday is the final day for any options expiration effect.

“The structural supply and demand imbalance should end on Friday,” Karsan states. “I would be careful chasing this tech up here, in particular, if we see some weakness going forward like we’ve been talking about.” 

The crucial factor is the amount of “vol supply” emerging from this event, which could counteract “vol demand” (recall that investors often seek protection through options or volatility, the all-encompassing term). This counteraction may postpone weakness, setting the stage for a more significant decline later in Q1, as highlighted by Karsan.

It’s important to note that a substantial market position involves hedging equity with short-call options and long-put options. Options prices may decrease with increased volatility supply, leading to the counterpart’s re-hedging of this position by buying back underlying stock and futures hedges (i.e., if a counterpart is short futures against an SPX long-call and short-put position, they will buy futures to rebalance their delta as implied volatility falls).

Graphic: Retrieved from Nomura Securities International.

“Can that counter the lack of positive flows, the vol buying, and some of the macro liquidity issues,” Karsan asks, acknowledging the pressures linked to asset runoff, Treasury issuances, the diminishing reverse repo, and external events such as the Red Sea attacks, which are perceived as potentially more impactful on supply chains than the global pandemic. In any case, there are increasing prospects of a “February 14 Valentine’s Day Massacre.”

What’s the course of action? According to Simplify Asset Management, considering that far out-of-the-money puts are now priced at half of what they were at the onset of the global pandemic four years ago, hedging at this point is a prudent move. 

Butterflies in the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 present an appealing opportunity. Take, for instance, the 15000/13500/12000 NDX butterfly expiring in the next month or two. It costs between $500 and $1,500 to open. If it’s the shorter-dated one that is in the money today, closing it could yield about a $90,000 credit, excluding changes in implied volatility and the passage of time. The maximum value is $150,000, and the risk is confined to the amount paid at open. Talk about the convexity!

We’ve analyzed this specific trade for you, although in the S&P 500 and without the distant protective put. Given the distinct environment, there is an elevated risk of a volatility increase warranting the acquisition of far-away protection, represented in this instance by the 12000 put.

Graphic: Retrieved from Simplify Asset Management.

Though owning volatility safeguards against a substantial decline, consider the expenses of maintaining that position and the inevitable decline in its value during calm or rising periods. It is “the investment equivalent of death by a thousand cuts.”

“Vol is cheap enough when you go out two or three months, particularly on the call side,” Karsan ends. “Into a rally particularly that should continue to be relatively bid. That doesn’t mean go own one-month vol because that is more uncertain here, right? You will experience a lot of decay if the decline doesn’t happen till February. Right? There is still theta to be had.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bank of America Global Research.
Categories
Commentary

Daily Brief For March 1, 2023

Physik Invest’s Daily Brief is read free by thousands of subscribers. Join this community to learn about the fundamental and technical drivers of markets.

Graphic updated 9:25 AM ET. Sentiment Risk-Off if expected /MES open is below the prior day’s range. /MES levels are derived from the profile graphic at the bottom of this letter. Click here for the latest levels. SqueezeMetrics Dark Pool Index (DIX) and Gamma (GEX) with the latter calculated based on where the prior day’s reading falls with respect to the MAX and MIN of all occurrences available. A higher DIX is bullish. The lower the GEX, the more (expected) volatility. Click to learn the implications of volatility, direction, and moneyness. Breadth reflects a reading of the prior day’s NYSE Advance/Decline indicator. The CBOE VIX Volatility Index (INDEX: VVIX) reflects the attractiveness of owning volatility. UMBS prices via MNDClick here for the economic calendar.

Administrative

Pardon, the delay. Also, the levels in this letter are a little messy to the downside. Too many confluences. Will clear them up over the coming days. Have a great day!

Fundamental

In the face of contrarian economic indications, based on CME Group Inc’s (NASDAQ: CME) FedWatch Tool, traders’ activity in the Fed Fund Futures shows the terminal rate peaking at 5.25-5.50%. Expectations for easing are pushed out to 2024, though at a less steep rate. This context, coupled with the prospects of slower economic growth, presents uninspiring realities for investors.

Graphic: Retrieved from CME Group Inc’s (NASDAQ: CME) FedWatch Tool.

Consequently, the equity-bond correlation break is set to persist.

Graphic: Retrieved from Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS).

Quoting a Bloomberg analysis of Credit Suisse’s Global Investment Returns Yearbook, “[b]onds, equities and real estate tend to be negatively correlated with inflation,” while “only commodities had a positive correlation, making them the only true hedge.”

However, commodities are “often susceptible to deep and lengthy drawdowns … in periods of disinflation” and falling growth expectations. Though commodities are a hedge against inflation, they aren’t a hedge against (rising odds of) recession.

Graphic: Retrieved from Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS).

So, interest rates are likely to rise and stay higher for longer. 

Graphic: Retrieved from Bridgewater Associates LP. “Nominal spending on services has continued to grow at a rapid clip of about 6% annualized. Real and nominal demand for goods has been gradually weakening. This shift in the mix of demand has implications. Services spending is an upward pressure on employment and wages, while weak goods demand has a more pronounced impact on listed company sales.”

Equities, which are particularly sensitive to interest rates, are likely to weaken despite economic and earnings growth which is set to fall (i.e., close to zero earnings growth).

Graphic: Retrieved January 5, 2023, from Nasdaq Inc’s (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Phil Mackintosh.

Quantitative tightening or QT (i.e., the flow of capital out of capital markets and an asset headwind), which has been offset by the running off of the Treasury General Account and injecting liquidity into markets (i.e., TGA runoff increases the room banks have to lend and finance trading activities) in the face of the debt ceiling issue, is set to accelerate and compound the rising rate impact.

Graphic: Via Physik Invest. Data compiled by @jkonopas623. Fed Balance Sheet data, here. Treasury General Account Data, here. Reverse Repo data, here. NL = BS – TGA – RRP.

In light of rates and QT risk asset headwind, as well as slowing growth and inflation headwind to bonds and commodities, how does one protect their portfolio? As The Ambrus Group’s Kris Sidial explains, “[e]ven if inflation continues, the rate at which it rises won’t be the same. Due to this, CTA exposures likely will not perform as well as they did in 2022, and that’s why you may see more opportunities in the volatility space … [where] we can get cheap exposure to convexity.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via Tier1Alpha. “[T]he correlation between bond yields and equities, has begun to turn higher from a negative level. Remember that a negative correlation between bond yields and equity prices means equities go lower as bond prices go lower, defeating the historical diversification benefits of a 60/40-type portfolio.  Historically, this rotation has been associated with a period of LOWER returns, but it’s important to emphasize that this is because these periods are associated with Fed-induced slowdowns. Whether 2023 follows the same pattern remains to be seen.”

Please refer to past letters for trade examples. Though such trades may not be as attractive to enter now, they are attractive to keep on for longer.

Graphic: Retrieved from Nomura Holdings Inc (NYSE: NMR). Downside trades are rather attractive now in the absence of hedging demands in longer-dated protection convex in price and volatility. Naive measures like the Cboe VIX Volatility (INDEX: VVIX), as well as the graphic above, allude to the little demands for convexity and a declining sensitivity of the VIX with respect to changes in share prices.

If, as Bridgewater Associates put it, there is another stage to tightening “marked either by an economic downturn or failure to meet the inflation target, prompting more tightening,” risk assets will perform poorly and this letter’s trade examples are likely to protect portfolios well until assets appear attractive enough to buy again.

Graphic: Retrieved from NDR via Macro Ops.

Positioning

SpotGamma explains that more of the same (i.e., back-and-forth consolidation and a grind higher or lower) can be expected until some macroeconomic catalysts solicit demand for upside or downside protection and, accordingly, counterparty hedging pressures catalyze a far-reaching movement. 

As an aside, “With IV at already low levels, the bullish impact of it falling further is weak, hence the SPX trending lower all the while IV measures (e.g., VIX term structure) have shifted markedly lower since last week. If IV was at a higher starting point, its falling would work to keep the market in a far more positive/bullish stance.”

Graphic: VIX Term Structure retrieved from VIX Central via The Market Ear.

Consequently, “if traders enter the market and demand protection, particularly that which is farther-dated, the bearish effect of rising IV will far outweigh the bullish effect of it falling. This will add to the underlying/fundamental pressure we see building via weak price action.”

Technical

As of 9:20 AM ET, Wednesday’s regular session (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET), in the S&P 500, is likely to open in the lower part of a positively skewed overnight inventory, outside of the prior day’s range, suggesting a potential for immediate directional opportunity.

The S&P 500 pivot for today is $3,965.25. 

Key levels to the upside include $3,979.75, $3,992.75, and $4,003.25.

Key levels to the downside include $3,949.00, $3,927.50, and $3,908.25.

Disclaimer: Click here to load the updated key levels via the web-based TradingView platform. New links are produced daily. Quoted levels likely hold barring an exogenous development.

Graphic: 65-minute profile chart of the Micro E-mini S&P 500 Futures.

Definitions

Volume Areas: Markets will build on areas of high-volume (HVNodes). Should the market trend for a period of time, this will be identified by a low-volume area (LVNodes). The LVNodes denote directional conviction and ought to offer support on any test.

If participants auction and find acceptance in an area of a prior LVNode, then future discovery ought to be volatile and quick as participants look to the nearest HVNodes for more favorable entry or exit.

POCs: Areas where two-sided trade was most prevalent in a prior day session. Participants will respond to future tests of value as they offer favorable entry and exit.

MCPOCs: Denote areas where two-sided trade was most prevalent over numerous sessions. Participants will respond to future tests of value as they offer favorable entry and exit.


About

The author, Renato Leonard Capelj, works in finance and journalism.

Capelj spends the bulk of his time at Physik Invest, an entity through which he invests and publishes free daily analyses to thousands of subscribers. The analyses offer him and his subscribers a way to stay on the right side of the market. Separately, Capelj is an options analyst at SpotGamma and an accredited journalist.

Capelj’s past works include conversations with investor Kevin O’Leary, ARK Invest’s Catherine Wood, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Lithuania’s Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė, former Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers, and persons at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Connect

Direct queries to renato@physikinvest.com. Find Physik Invest on TwitterLinkedInFacebook, and Instagram. Find Capelj on TwitterLinkedIn, and Instagram. Only follow the verified profiles.

Calendar

You may view this letter’s content calendar at this link.

Disclaimer

Do not construe this newsletter as advice. All content is for informational purposes. Capelj and Physik Invest manage their own capital and will not solicit others for it.

Categories
Commentary

Daily Brief For February 9, 2023

Physik Invest’s Daily Brief is read by thousands of subscribers. You, too, can join this community to learn about the fundamental and technical drivers of markets.

Graphic updated 7:20 AM ET. Sentiment Neutral if expected /ES open is inside of the prior day’s range. /ES levels are derived from the profile graphic at the bottom of this letter. Click here for the latest levels. SqueezeMetrics Dark Pool Index (DIX) and Gamma (GEX) with the latter calculated based on where the prior day’s reading falls with respect to the MAX and MIN of all occurrences available. A higher DIX is bullish. At the same time, the lower the GEX, the more (expected) volatility. Click to learn the implications of volatility, direction, and moneyness. Breadth reflects a reading of the prior day’s NYSE Advance/Decline indicator. The CBOE VIX Volatility Index (INDEX: VVIX) reflects the attractiveness of owning volatility.

Positioning

The cross-cutting forces on inflation are set to net out says Bob Elliott, the CIO at Unlimited. The former Bridgewater Associates executive thinks short-term inflation pressures are skewed upward, and that new data suggests “the respite in inflation … is probably going to fade and higher numbers are going to print.”

In short, disinflation from oil prices and the amelioration of supply chains “cannot persist, and that’s what we’re seeing now. It looks like those upward pressures on inflation are moving faster than the pace that services prices and housing costs are moving down.”

Consequently, there is a potential for broad inflation measures to remain higher for longer, hence the thinking that the Federal Reserve (Fed) indeed stays tougher on inflation for longer (i.e., higher rates for longer). This would support traders’ recent desire to bet large on downside movement next week when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is set to update.

Publicized by Kai Volatility’s Cem Karsan and Damped Spring’s Andy Constan, some trader(s) bought to open 24,000 put options at the $4,050.00 S&P 500 (FUTURE: /ES) strike expiring February 17, 2023. The trade coincided with market makers selling to open “roughly 7,200 [/ES] futures contracts worth roughly $1.5 billion.” This “caused the local low,” Constan, who also worked at Bridgewater (and your letter writer had the honor of interviewing before), explained.

This trade, and others like it, compounded the pressures of the dealers selling their existing stock and futures “to re-hedge their call options exposures that are declining in value.”

Graphic: Retrieved from SqueezeMetrics.

Accordingly, the Cboe Volatility Index (INDEX: VIX) is bid, as is the Cboe VIX Volatility Index (INDEX: VVIX), which your letter writer talked about in a SpotGamma note last night. Basically, traders are hedging more, and this is observed by previously low readings of convexity moving higher. Still, given that there is still some time to CPI, there’s potential for “current prices the SPX trades at [to] appear sticky for lack of better phrasing,” SpotGamma explained; pre-CPI, traders often sell short-term volatility as a bet on limited movement. It’s the post-CPI expirations in which implied volatility (IVOL) is wound and will serve as a catalyst for a fast move higher or lower. 

Graphic: Retrieved from TradingView. Blue = VVIX. Orange = VIX.

So, in the short-term, there may be some pinning, followed by an expansion of range into the mid-February (2/17) monthly options expiration (OpEx). This event likely puts the market in a precarious position and at the whims of macro-type repositioning, which may be bearish based on the insights this letter has covered in the past.

Graphic: Retrieved from Physik Invest. Data from SqueezeMetrics. Gamma exposure is set to fall in mid-February, and this may result in less support from the options market.

Trades that look and are working well include those that use short-call vertical credits to finance long-put vertical debits out months from now. For instance, for every two units of short call verticals (SOLD -1 VERTICAL SPX 100 19 MAY 23 [AM] 4150/4200 CALL), your letter writer is looking to own one unit of the long put vertical (BUY +1 VERTICAL SPX 100 16 JUN 23 [AM] 3450/3350 PUT). Remember that your letter writer may not necessarily think the market will trade that far, rather it may be a bet on IVOL repricing.

A case study on last week’s ultra-successful call ratio spreads is coming soon. Take care and watch your risk!

Technical

As of 7:20 AM ET, Thursday’s regular session (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET), in the S&P 500, is likely to open in the upper part of a positively skewed overnight inventory, inside of the prior day’s range, suggesting a limited potential for immediate directional opportunity.

The S&P 500 pivot for today is $4,168.75. 

Key levels to the upside include $4,189.00, $4,202.75, and $4,214.25.

Key levels to the downside include $4,153.25, $4,136.25, and $4,122.75.

Disclaimer: Click here to load the updated key levels via the web-based TradingView platform. New links are produced daily. Quoted levels likely hold barring an exogenous development.

Graphic: 65-minute profile chart of the Micro E-mini S&P 500 Futures.

Definitions

Volume Areas: Markets will build on areas of high-volume (HVNodes). Should the market trend for a period of time, this will be identified by a low-volume area (LVNodes). The LVNodes denote directional conviction and ought to offer support on any test.

If participants auction and find acceptance in an area of a prior LVNode, then future discovery ought to be volatile and quick as participants look to the nearest HVNodes for more favorable entry or exit.


About

The author, Renato Leonard Capelj, works in finance and journalism.

Capelj spends the bulk of his time at Physik Invest, an entity through which he invests and publishes free daily analyses to thousands of subscribers. The analyses offer him and his subscribers a way to stay on the right side of the market. Separately, Capelj is an options analyst at SpotGamma and an accredited journalist.

Capelj’s past works include conversations with investor Kevin O’Leary, ARK Invest’s Catherine Wood, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, Lithuania’s Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė, former Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers, and persons at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Connect

Direct queries to renato@physikinvest.com or find Physik Invest on TwitterLinkedInFacebook, and Instagram.

Calendar

You may view this letter’s content calendar at this link.

Disclaimer

Do not construe this newsletter as advice. All content is for informational purposes.

Categories
Commentary

Daily Brief For September 15, 2022

The daily brief is a free glimpse into the prevailing fundamental and technical drivers of U.S. equity market products. Join the 900+ that read this report daily, below!

Graphic updated 7:45 AM ET. Sentiment Neutral if expected /ES open is inside of the prior day’s range. /ES levels are derived from the profile graphic at the bottom of the following section. Levels may have changed since initially quoted; click here for the latest levels. SqueezeMetrics Dark Pool Index (DIX) and Gamma (GEX) calculations are based on where the prior day’s reading falls with respect to the MAX and MIN of all occurrences available. A higher DIX is bullish. At the same time, the lower the GEX, the more (expected) volatility. Learn the implications of volatility, direction, and moneyness. Breadth reflects a reading of the prior day’s NYSE Advance/Decline indicator. VIX reflects a current reading of the CBOE Volatility Index (INDEX: VIX) from 0-100.

Administrative

Apologies – yesterday the above graphic was not properly updated. The sentiment reading was incorrect, as were a couple of other figures. Separately, a lighter note, today, followed by more in-depth stuff currently being worked on in the coming sessions. Thanks!

Fundamental

First – going to refer everyone to yesterday’s letter, a conversation between Joseph Wang and Andy Constan, as well as some updates Cem Karsan of Kai Volatility made. That is, in part, a primer for what we will be talking more about, soon.

Next – we have futures markets pricing rate a peak in the overnight rate at ~4.6% in February of 2023. From thereon, rate cuts are implied.

Graphic: Via Charles Schwab Corporation’s (NYSE: SCHW) TD Ameritrade thinkorswim. Observed is the Eurodollar, the interest offered on U.S. dollar-denominated deposits held at banks outside of the U.S. (i.e., participants’ outlook on interest rates).

It’s becoming the consensus that “[f]or hikes to reduce inflation, they need to hurt growth,” Jean Boivin and Alex Brazier of BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK) explained.

“There is no way around this,” they add. “We estimate it would require a deep recession in the U.S., with around as much as 2% hit to growth in the U.S., and 3 million more unemployed, and an even deeper recession in Europe.”

It’s the impact of rising rates and quantitative tightening (the latter which will compound the impacts of the former) that are part of the toolkit used to cool the sticky inflation.

Graphic: Via Physik Invest. Data compiled by @jkonopas623. Fed Balance Sheet data, here. Treasury General Account Data, here. Reverse Repo data, here. NL = BS – TGA – RRP.

Ray Dalio, of Bridgewater Associates LP, said that rates rising “toward the higher end of the 4.5% to 6% range … will bring private sector credit growth down, which will bring private sector spending and, hence, the economy down with it.”

Accordingly, equity prices could plunge upwards of 20%, as a result.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via Michael J. Kramer. “What is amazing is how expensive this market is relative to rates. The spread between the S&P 500 Earnings yield and the 10-Yr nominal rate is at multi-year lows.”

Further, per Bloomberg’s John Authers, it’s the case that “[a]ll major global synchronized crises ended with moderate inflation and low growth; that hasn’t been reached yet.” Separately, a peak in inflation “doesn’t come close to guaranteeing equity gains.”

The pivot will come when there’s a “sustainable path to 2% (not 3 or 4%) inflation” and a “fed funds that is greater than CPI for a few quarters,” explained Alfonso Peccatiello of The Macro Compass.

“The timing mostly depends [on] the MoM CPI ahead,” he added, pointing to a graphic that suggests “there is no ‘pivot’ earlier than mid-2023, and it could well be later. Looking at the SOFR curve, that’s also what’s roughly priced in.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bespoke Investment Group via Alfonso Peccatiello.

Positioning

Ahead of a multi-derivative expiry, markets are trading sideways to lower. Demands to protect equity downside (with puts), compounded macro-type selling earlier this week.

Now, with traders well hedged, Kai Volatility’s Cem Karsan put forth that there is a “race to monetize,” which is lending to “relatively flat” trade and “lack of follow-through.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Pat Hennessy. “Every large down move in SPX this year (quantified by <= -2 Zscore) has been followed by a relatively flat day/lack of follow through. Any ideas as to why this is?”

From hereon, as we said, a lot of the exposure demanded is short-dated. Should that exposure not be rolled forward in time, and allowed to expire, “SPX/ES dealers [who] are well hedged,” will unwind their hedges which may drive bullishness “through OpEx,” added Karsan.

Notwithstanding, this “has [the] potential to drive a tail post” OpEx. In [the] tech/meme market melt-up of 2020-2021, positioning was [the] exact opposite.”

Technical

As of 7:45 AM ET, Thursday’s regular session (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET), in the S&P 500, is likely to open in the middle part of a balanced overnight inventory, inside of prior-range and -value, suggesting a limited potential for immediate directional opportunity.

In the best case, the S&P 500 trades higher.

Any activity above the $3,965.75 HVNode puts into play the $4,001.00 VPOC. Initiative trade beyond the VPOC could reach as high as the $4,018.75 and $4,069.25 HVNodes, or higher.

In the worst case, the S&P 500 trades lower.

Any activity below the $3,965.75 HVNode puts into play the $3,925.00 VPOC. Initiative trade beyond the VPOC could reach as low as the $3,867.75 LVNode and $3,829.75 HVNode, or lower.

Click here to load today’s key levels into the web-based TradingView charting platform. Note that all levels are derived using the 65-minute timeframe. New links are produced, daily.
Graphic: 65-minute profile chart of the Micro E-mini S&P 500 Futures.

Definitions

Volume Areas: A structurally sound market will build on areas of high volume (HVNodes). Should the market trend for long periods of time, it will lack sound structure, identified as low volume areas (LVNodes). LVNodes denote directional conviction and ought to offer support on any test. 

If participants were to auction and find acceptance into areas of prior low volume (LVNodes), then future discovery ought to be volatile and quick as participants look to HVNodes for favorable entry or exit.

POCs: POCs are valuable as they denote areas where two-sided trade was most prevalent in a prior day session. Participants will respond to future tests of value as they offer favorable entry and exit.

MCPOCs: POCs are valuable as they denote areas where two-sided trade was most prevalent over numerous day sessions. Participants will respond to future tests of value as they offer favorable entry and exit.

About

After years of self-education, strategy development, mentorship, and trial-and-error, Renato Leonard Capelj began trading full-time and founded Physik Invest to detail his methods, research, and performance in the markets.

Capelj also develops insights around impactful options market dynamics at SpotGamma and is a Benzinga reporter.

Some of his works include conversations with ARK Invest’s Catherine Wood, investors Kevin O’Leary and John Chambers, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, ex-Bridgewater Associate Andy Constan, Kai Volatility’s Cem Karsan, The Ambrus Group’s Kris Sidial, among many others.

Disclaimer

In no way should the materials herein be construed as advice. Derivatives carry a substantial risk of loss. All content is for informational purposes only.

Categories
Commentary

Daily Brief For June 9, 2022

The daily brief is a free glimpse into the prevailing fundamental and technical drivers of U.S. equity market products. Join the 300+ that read this report daily, below!

What Happened

U.S. markets were weighed by action abroad before recovering late in the overnight session. 

This was ahead of a European Central Bank (ECB) decision that likely results in a tightening of monetary policies in that region of the world. The expectation is that the ECB will end its bond purchases this month. Then, hike rates in July and September. 

At home, in the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking to change the business model of wholesalers. In consideration is a model in which different firms compete with each other to fill investors’ trades. Some suggest this would increase trading costs.

Elsewhere, one of the largest U.S. export plants of liquified natural gas (LNG) is to shut down due to a facility explosion, raising the risk of shortages in Europe, according to Reuters.

Ahead is data on jobless claims (8:30 AM ET), as well as real household net worth and domestic financial debt (12:00 PM ET).

Graphic updated 6:40 AM ET. Sentiment Neutral if expected /ES open is inside of the prior day’s range. /ES levels are derived from the profile graphic at the bottom of the following section. Levels may have changed since initially quoted; click here for the latest levels. SqueezeMetrics Dark Pool Index (DIX) and Gamma (GEX) calculations are based on where the prior day’s reading falls with respect to the MAX and MIN of all occurrences available. A higher DIX is bullish. At the same time, the lower the GEX, the more (expected) volatility. Learn the implications of volatility, direction, and moneyness. SHIFT data used for S&P 500 (INDEX: SPX) options activity. Note that options flow is sorted by the call premium spent; if more positive, then more was spent on call options. Breadth reflects a reading of the prior day’s NYSE Advance/Decline indicator. VIX reflects a current reading of the CBOE Volatility Index (INDEX: VIX) from 0-100.

What To Expect

In the past week, a narrative on bearish bets in funds such as the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSE: HYG) surfaced.

The ETF saw some of the largest volumes since March of 2020, presumably as traders looked to hedge for low cost, the Federal Reserve’s (FED) hawkishness. 

Graphic: Via Bloomberg. “Given that HYG’s realized volatility is still relatively low, it’s an inexpensive way to hedge the impact of tightening monetary policy on corporate credit.”

According to The Ambrus Group’s Kris Sidial, “a lot of banks continue to push credit vol[atility] as a cheap hedge. Every month, at least four banks push the theme on that trade because of ‘value.’”

This is “also, another reason why every month you see HYG put spreads hit the tape with big size, relatively speaking,” he adds.

Adding, Bridgewater Associates, which was founded by Ray Dalio in 1975, is betting on the sale of corporate bonds via credit default swaps (CDS), which are used to transfer and hedge credit exposure on fixed income products.

Bridgewater’s Co-Chief Investment Officer Greg Jensen explained their bet against corporate bonds is based on inflation remaining stubborn, resulting in the Fed to “tighten in a very strong way, which would then crack the economy and probably crack the weaker [companies].”

Here’s why that matters. 

The firms facing challenges, “are creations of easy credit,” according to Bloomberg and, now, for some of them, their time is running short as they “aren’t earning enough to cover their interest expenses, let alone turn a profit.” 

“When interest rates are at or close to zero, it’s very easy to get credit, and under those circumstances, the difference between a good company and a bad company is narrow,” said Komal Sri-Kumar of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies. 

“It’s only when the tide runs out that you figure out who is swimming naked.”

Graphic: Via Bloomberg.

Despite many of these companies having debt that could last them “months, even years,” Vincent Reinhart explains that “[a]s rates rise, it pushes more of those firms into distress, and amplifies the tightening by the Fed of financial conditions and credit availability.”

As stated yesterday, financial conditions are “the mechanism through which the Fed [impacts] the economy,” and “if the data doesn’t slow, financial conditions will need to tighten more,” potentially feeding into a freezing of credit and a harder hit on still-frothy areas of the market “with the greatest systemic risk.”

As we quoted Simplify Asset Management’s Mike Green explaining in early May, we’re more than halfway through a dot-com type collapse that’s happened “underneath the surface of the indices.” 

That’s noteworthy since still-strong passive flows continue to support the largest stocks within the index.

That said, with bonds “not acting as a hedge and appear to be becoming less ‘money’ like due persistent declines in price and elevated rate vol,” per Joseph Wang, who was a trader at the Fed, “[i]nvestors in both bonds and stocks are reaching for cash by selling their assets, driving further asset price declines. For non-bank investors, ‘cash’ means bank deposits.”

How to think about trades?

As explained, yesterday, the marginal impact of further volatility compression is likely to do less to bolster equity market upside. Heading into the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) event, next week, according to SpotGamma, short-dated, pre-event volatility is likely to get sold (further promoting market consolidation) while that which is farter-dated is likely to be bought.

To capitalize on a resolution of the index-level pinning, participants, too, could sell short-dated volatility (which capitalizes on pinning and the rapid decay of soon-to-expire options) and use those proceeds to fund farther dated options. 

Such a structure would assist in lower the cost of directional exposure.

Graphic: The risk profile of a long put calendar spread, via Fidelity.

Alternatively, if bearish on volatility, one could buy a butterfly (short two times at the money and long above and below out of the money options). 

Graphic: The risk profile of a long call butterfly spread, via Fidelity.

In such a case, the trader becomes long implied skew convexity. This is a play on the comments above, coupled with the fact that the Cboe VVIX Index (INDEX: VVIX), the expected volatility of the 30-day forward price of the VIX, or the volatility of volatility (a naive but useful measure of skew), dropped off largely, too, in comparison to the VIX, itself.

Graphic: Text taken from Exotic Options and Hybrids: A Guide to Structuring, Pricing and Trading.

Technical: As of 6:40 AM ET, Thursday’s regular session (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET), in the S&P 500, will likely open in the upper part of a balanced overnight inventory, inside of prior-range and -value, suggesting a limited potential for immediate directional opportunity.

In the best case, the S&P 500 trades higher; activity above the $4,129.25 low volume area (LVNode) puts in play the $4,149.00 untested point of control (VPOC). Initiative trade beyond the VPOC could reach as high as the $4,164.25 regular trade high (RTH High) and $4,189.25 LVNode, or higher.

In the worst case, the S&P 500 trades lower; activity below the $4,129.25 LVNode puts in play the $4,101.25 LVNode. Initiative trade beyond the LVNodes could reach as low as the $4,073.25 weak high/low and $4,055.75 LVNode, or lower.

Click here to load today’s key levels into the web-based TradingView charting platform. Note that all levels are derived using the 65-minute timeframe. New links are produced, daily.
Graphic: 65-minute profile chart of the Micro E-mini S&P 500 Futures.

Definitions

Volume Areas: A structurally sound market will build on areas of high volume (HVNodes). Should the market trend for long periods of time, it will lack sound structure, identified as low volume areas (LVNodes). LVNodes denote directional conviction and ought to offer support on any test. 

If participants were to auction and find acceptance into areas of prior low volume (LVNodes), then future discovery ought to be volatile and quick as participants look to HVNodes for favorable entry or exit.

POCs: POCs are valuable as they denote areas where two-sided trade was most prevalent in a prior day session. Participants will respond to future tests of value as they offer favorable entry and exit.

About

After years of self-education, strategy development, mentorship, and trial-and-error, Renato Leonard Capelj began trading full-time and founded Physik Invest to detail his methods, research, and performance in the markets.

Capelj also develops insights around impactful options market dynamics at SpotGamma and is a Benzinga reporter.

Some of his works include conversations with ARK Invest’s Catherine Wood, investors Kevin O’Leary and John Chambers, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, Kai Volatility’s Cem Karsan, The Ambrus Group’s Kris Sidial, among many others.

Disclaimer

In no way should the materials herein be construed as advice. Derivatives carry a substantial risk of loss. All content is for informational purposes only.