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Commentary

Market Tremors

This edition shouts out Public.com, a multi-asset investing platform built for those who take investing seriously. Public recently launched Alpha, an AI investment exploration tool, in the app store. We’re excited to host co-founder and co-CEO Jannick Malling on the next podcast to discuss the market and how AI levels the playing field. Stay tuned!

When market expectations drift too far from underlying fundamentals, they eventually become unsustainable. This sometimes leads to corrections that can trigger cascading effects across the broader market.

It is prevailing investment practices that partly fuel such a dynamic. While concepts like diversification and efficient markets appear sound, they often fail to account for the pressures investors face in practice. For instance, sophisticated retail investors have no mandate and typically have the space to make deliberate, calculated decisions. On the other hand, institutional-type investors, driven by the need to deliver consistent short-term profits, may feel compelled to chase returns. This pressure can lead to riskier behaviors, such as betting on low volatility by selling options. While this may produce steady returns in calm markets, it exposes investors to sudden shocks, volatility repricings, and forced unwinds when markets turn unexpectedly. Investors are often unprepared for such volatility, seldom owning options outright due to the rarity of shocks. This creates a market landscape skewed toward a “winner-takes-all” outcome, where only a few are positioned to benefit from such rare moments.

The following sections explore this realm of increasingly frequent, dramatic, and unpredictable outcomes. Let’s dive in.


In our excruciatingly detailed ‘Reality is Path-Dependent’ newsletter, we explored how markets are shaped by reflexivity (feedback loops) and path dependency (how past events influence the present), setting the stage for August 2024’s turbulence and recovery.

To recap, we noticed that while individual stocks experienced big price swings, the broader indexes, like the S&P 500—representing those stocks—showed restraint. Remarkably, the S&P 500 went over 350 sessions without a single 2% or more significant move lower, reflecting this calm. This happened because of a mix of factors, including many investors focusing on broader market calm, often expressed by selling options and, in some cases, using their profits to double down on directional bets in high-flying stocks. This helped create a gap between the calmer movements in the indexes and wilder swings in individual stock components, leading to falling correlations; beneath the surface, big tech, AI, and Mag-7 stocks gained ground, while smaller stocks in the index struggled, as shown by fewer stocks driving the market higher (weaker breadth).

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

By arbitrage constraints, declining correlation is the reconciliation. When investors sell options on an index, the firms on the other side of the trade—like dealers or market makers—dynamically hedge their risk. They may do this by buying the index as its price drops and selling it when it rises, which can help keep the index within a narrower range and reduce actual realized volatility. However, this doesn’t apply as much to individual stocks, where we observed more options buying. For these stocks, hedging works differently: dealers may buy when prices rise and sell when prices fall, reinforcing trends and extending price moves. This creates a situation where the index stays relatively calm, but its components can swing more wildly.

Anyway, we noticed that as the connection between the index and its stocks was weakening, traders who bet on these differences (called dispersion) profited. As more participated in this and other volatility-suppressing trades, it became more successful. This shows how feedback loops (reflexivity) and past events (path dependency) influence future market behavior. Overall, this trade helped sustain the market rally and added stability as lesser-weighted stocks stepped up to offset the slowdown in leaders in July.

However, we speculated about the risks of a broader “sell-everything” market. Waning enthusiasm for big tech stocks and broader market selling on the news could manifest demand for protection (such as buying longer-dated put options). During the quieter, less liquid summer months, this could trigger increased volatility and lead to a sharp sell-off (as dealers or market makers hedge in the same direction the market’s moving, amplifying moves). Although low and stable volatility gave an optimistic market outlook, we considered advanced structures to hedge against potential pullbacks at low cost, including ultra-wide, broken-wing NDX put butterflies, ratio spreads, and low-cost VIX calls and call spreads (which, by way of the VIX being an indirect measure of volatility or volatility squared, offer amplified protection in a crash). In the event of market weakness, these structures would be closed/monetized, with the proceeds/profits used to lower the cost of upside participating trades through year-end. Again, further details can be found in the ‘Reality is Path-Dependent’ newsletter.

Graphic: Retrieved from UBS. Hedge funds were cutting risk in July 2024.

Our warnings about the risks of extreme momentum crowding and positioning leading to violent unwinds were borne out in August 2024. Markets reeled as recession probabilities were repriced, quarterly earnings disappointed, and central bank policies diverged. The Federal Reserve’s dovish stance starkly contrasted with an unanticipated rate hike by the Bank of Japan. This fueled considerable volatility across assets, particularly higher-beta equities and cryptocurrencies, which are more heavily influenced by traditional risk and monetary policy factors. The episode highlighted the vulnerabilities of a market reliant on leveraged trading and concentrated investments; the situation was about more than just a fundamental shock.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bianco Research.

The unraveling was marked by spikes in stock market volatility measures like the VIX, a liquidity vacuum, and forced deleveraging by trend-following and volatility-sensitive strategies. Despite this clearing some froth, key equity and volatility positioning and valuation vulnerabilities remained, leaving markets fragile and uncertain whether growth will stabilize or deteriorate.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via PPGMacro. Yen versus Nasdaq.

Some accounts compared the selling to the 1987 stock market crash. Volatility broke its calm streak, with spot-vol beta—the relationship between market movements and expected/implied volatility changes—rising and correlations increasing.

Graphic: Retrieved from Morgan Stanley via @NoelConvex.

Early warning signs of precariousness emerged as prices for far out-of-the-money SPX and VIX options—key indicators and drivers of potential crashes when heavily traded—soared hundreds of percent the week before crash day, Monday, August 5. These tail-risk hedges, often viewed as insurance against steep market drops, carried well, becoming significantly more expensive as demand surged. Just as insurers raise premiums on homes in disaster-prone areas to account for higher risk, the soaring cost of these options reflected the market’s growing fear of extreme outcomes. This repricing fed into broader quantitative measures, triggering a wave of deleveraging and prompting investors to offload hundreds of billions in stock bets, amplifying the sell-off.

Graphic: Retrieved from Nomura via @MenthorQpro.

At one point, the VIX breached 65, its highest level since 2020. A lack of liquidity during pre-market hours and the shift from short-term to longer-term hedges contributed to this sharp rise. The VIX is calculated based on a selection of S&P 500 options about 30 days out, chosen by an algorithm that looks at the middle point between the prices people are willing to buy and sell those options. When there’s not a lot of trading activity and markets get volatile, the difference between the buying (bid) and selling (ask) prices widens, lending to the VIX being higher than it should be.

Graphic: Retrieved from JPMorgan via @jaredhstocks.

Comparatively, VIX futures—perhaps a better measure of hedging demands outside regular market hours—lagged. JPMorgan claims the fast narrowing in the VIX spot and futures indicates the VIX spot overstated fear and hedging demand.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

Moreover, a technical issue at the Cboe options exchange delayed trading, and by the time the problem was resolved, the VIX had already dropped sharply. This coincided with traders doubling down on short-volatility positions and buying stocks, confident in the S&P 500’s historical tendency to rebound in the months following similar volatility spikes.

Graphic: Retrieved from Nomura via The Market Ear.

Rocky Fishman, founder of Asym 500, explains that the dislocations above were compounded by dispersion traders who likely experienced mark-to-market losses on their short index positions while single-stock markets remained closed. This forced some to cover their short index volatility positions, resulting in a pre-market surge in index volatility. Once trading resumed, many began selling single-stock options, triggering a broader decline in volatility levels—particularly in single-stock options.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via Asym 500.

So, the rapid decrease in the VIX was driven more by positioning dynamics and the calculation mechanics of the VIX itself rather than a complete unwinding of risky trades. Additionally, the S&P 500’s movement into lower-volatility segments of the SPX options curve, which the VIX relies on, further intensified this decline. Kris Sidial of The Ambrus Group adds, “It’s quite evident that many have doubled down on [short volatility]. But you don’t need to trust our data. Barring any additional volatility shocks in the next few weeks, I expect some of these firms to deliver stellar numbers by the end of Q3 due to their inclination to take on more risk.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via @iv_technicals.

The market’s recovery in the fall was mainly driven by the Mag-7 giants, whose robust performance overshadowed the struggles of smaller stocks. The August decline created an opportunity to acquire beaten-down stocks at discounts, with investors indeed seeing the panic as a buy signal; outside of significant crises unable to topple the economy (like the bank failures in 2023), back-tests suggest that when the VIX exceeds 35, the S&P 500 has historically risen upwards of 15% over the next six months.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

The recovery was not without risks, with the divide between market leaders and laggards highlighting continued fragility. In any case, supportive flows into mega-caps and dealer hedging activities helped stabilize broader indexes through November.

Graphic: Retrieved from Nomura via SpotGamma.

The growing gap between the stable performance of the S&P 500 and the larger fluctuations in its components created profits for those dispersion traders we discussed. However, as valuations for mega-cap stocks climb, the market becomes more vulnerable to shifts in sentiment or capital flows. Events like the yen carry trade—where borrowing in Japan funded investments in U.S. Treasuries and equities—unwind exposed concentration risks and positioning imbalances, which could amplify future shocks.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via @Alpha_Ex_LLC.

As for potential triggers and shocks going forward, rising inequality and populism are creating deep divisions within and among major powers, while protectionist policies strain potential global cooperation. According to Cem Karsan of Kai Volatility, these dynamics drive economic battles and indirect conflicts, with Eastern nations working to reduce Western influence. This shift coincides with a new era of high inflation, widening wealth gaps, and changing power dynamics. Millennials, now a dominant force in the workforce and politics, are challenging decades of policies that primarily benefited corporations and the wealthy, reversing globalization and redistributing wealth—though this comes at the cost of heightened inflation.

These structural changes disrupt traditional investment strategies like the 60/40 portfolio. A major geopolitical event, such as China moving on Taiwan, could severely impact supply chains, critical industries, and the global economy, with significant repercussions for stocks like Nvidia and broader indices like the S&P 500. If market bets against panic (like short volatility) unravel, it could trigger more swings like August’s. The same reflexivity that has stabilized markets since then could amplify volatility during future shocks, turning successive disruptions into severe crises if market positioning is misaligned.

Graphic: Retrieved from Joshua Lim.

Despite this challenging backdrop, short-term market behavior operates independently, dictated by supply and demand dynamics. Seasonal flows, particularly during year-end, created a bullish bias; reduced holiday trading volumes, combined with reinvestment effects and significant options expirations, contributed to structural upward pressure on markets. These flows and a historical tendency for election years to drive positive performance suggested a right-skewed distribution for near-term outcomes.

Graphic: Retrieved from SpotGamma.

The prospect and fulfillment of a “red sweep,” characterized by follow-on deregulation, a business-friendly environment, and more animal spirits, boosted markets. However, caution was spotted in certain areas, like bonds, where expectations for inflation rose.

Graphic: Retrieved from Oraclum Capital.

Ultimately, the market overextended, highlighting the risk of a peak as it caught down to weak breath on the Federal Reserve’s surprising hawkish shift in December. This change led to volatility in equities, interest rates, and currencies, reminiscent of the spike in August when the VIX jumped and surpassed the S&P 500’s decline. Such persistent divergences validate a clear shift into a new market regime characterized by volatility that consistently outpaces market sell-offs.

Image
Graphic: Retrieved from Nomura.

In a report, Cboe said that equity spot/vol beta surged to -3.3, meaning for every 1% drop in the S&P 500, the VIX gained 3.3 points—exceeding even August’s extreme levels. SPX options priced greater downside risk, with skew steepening. Notwithstanding, correlations settled near historic lows, signaling investor focus on sector rotation and stock dispersion.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via Alpha Exchange.

Early warning signals appeared when volatility and equities increased simultaneously, highlighting a “spot up, vol up” pattern that frequently foreshadows market peaks. For instance, at one moment, upside calls on major stocks like Nvidia and the S&P 500 were well-priced and poised to perform strongly in a rally. This occurs because, during rallies, implied volatility of call options generally decreases as investors tend to sell calls tied to their stock holdings rather than liquidating them entirely. When investors chase synthetic upside exposure through call options, indices like the VIX could stabilize or increase as the market rises. Since counterparties typically adjust their exposure by buying the underlying asset, it propels the rally and magnifies market fluctuations.

Graphic: Retrieved from Nomura.

Beyond the chase, the post-election rally got an extra boost from unwinding protective puts. Significant events like elections typically boost demand for puts as hedges against adverse outcomes, with counterparties hedging these positions by selling underlying stocks or futures, among other things. As markets rise, time passes, or uncertainty fades, these puts lose value, leading counterparties to unwind hedges by buying stocks and futures. This is a structural support that pushes markets higher.

Graphic: Retrieved from Nomura.

Corporate buybacks and stabilizing volatility levels encouraged funds to increase their exposure. Nomura estimated that assuming stable markets, up to $145 billion in additional volatility-sensitive buying could occur over three months. Although 30-day implied volatility traded a bit above realized volatility, this signaled uncertainty rather than distress. Seasonal factors mentioned in the previous section—like low holiday liquidity and limited selling pressure—added to the upward trend.

Graphic: Retrieved from Goldman Sachs.

Then came the FOMC meeting, followed by December’s massive options expiration (OPEX), disrupting the supportive dynamics that had fueled the rally. While a rate cut was expected, uncertainty around forward guidance introduced volatility just as the market faced a substantial unwinding of stabilizing exposure. Those who hedged customer-owned call options by buying stock during rallies and hedged customer-owned puts by selling stock during declines were forced to re-hedge as markets turned lower following the FOMC meeting. This involved selling stocks and futures, adding downside pressure.

Macro factors triggered the initial downside, with positioning amplifying equity volatility.

Graphic: Retrieved from SpotGamma.

Ultimately, volatility levels signaled oversold conditions ahead of a massive put-clearing OPEX, setting the stage for a year-end lift. The volatility spikes in August and December remained contained, as they were largely event-driven and mitigated by existing hedges and a market structure anchored by year-end flows. The subsequent unwinding of significant options positions in December eased the pressure, while reinvestment and re-leveraging effects into January supported against weak breadth; as the earlier-mentioned Cem Karsan explains best, the substantial gains over the year increased collateral for leveraged investors, enabling them to reinvest profits or take on more leverage, which has given markets a lease on life through today.


2025 might see increased volatility, not driven by typical inflation or recession fears but by the positioning dynamics herein that can magnify market swings during downturns. The so-called “red sweep” introduces optimism and the likelihood of greater risk-taking, which could result in one-sided positioning and heightened volatility. Factors like populism, protectionism, and rising interest rates are additional pressures on stocks and bonds. Gold and Bitcoin are identified as potential stores of value, but Bitcoin remains prone to speculation, liquidity challenges, and regulatory obstacles.

The following newsletters will identify structures to lean into fundamental catalysts and underlying volatility contexts. Notably, the structures discussed earlier (such as ultra-wide, broken-wing NDX put butterflies, ratio spreads, and low-cost VIX calls and call spreads) may continue to perform as effective hedges.

See you soon for a detailed part two.

Graphic: Retrieved from Invesco via Bloomberg.

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Commentary

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

Reversion To The Meme

Good Morning! I hope you had a great weekend and enjoy today’s letter. I would be so honored if you could comment and/or share this post. Cheers!

After a period of taking the stairs up, markets took the elevator down last week. Through Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell over 2.5% on a Consumer Price Index (CPI) print, which signaled higher-than-expected inflation. Internally, the selling was heavy.

Graphic: Retrieved from TradingView. Market Internals as taught by Shadowtrader’s Peter Reznicek.

Additionally, options were repriced in a big way.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via Options Insight.

Let’s digress. 

Recall that options implied volatility is a measure of the market’s expectation of the future volatility of an underlying asset, as reflected by the supply and demand of options themselves. Higher implied volatility indicates more significant expected price fluctuations.

Options implied volatility skew refers to the unevenness in implied volatility levels across different strike prices. Steep, smile-looking, or v-shaped volatility skew reflects a scenario where increased market volatility disproportionately impacts farther away strike options due to (expected) losses from more frequent delta rebalancing in a moving market. Options traders assign higher implied volatility to those farther away strike options to compensate for increased risk/cost, often enabling savvy traders to exploit these variations to reduce their hedging costs.

Moreover, before last week’s drop, the S&P 500’s implied volatility skew was subdued, as indicated by the grey-shaded area below. Tuesday’s decline coincided with increased options trading activity and demand, leading to a notable upward shift in skew. Distant S&P 500 put options experienced significant increases in implied volatility (see the below grey line moving away from the shaded area).

Graphic: Retrieved from SpotGamma. Volatility skew for S&P 500 options expiring March 15, 2024.

Though skew remains elevated, broader implied volatility measures, such as the Cboe Volatility Index or VIX, declined as rapidly as markets rallied in the days following Tuesday’s downturn.

What’s happening?

Despite further negative economic indicators, such as hot producer prices or weaker retail sales and manufacturing output, markets surged strongly, closing the week almost unchanged. Beyond significant investor inflows into stocks, totaling approximately $16 billion on Wednesday, according to Bank of America Corporation, analysis of S&P options positioning revealed mechanical demand for the S&P 500, as highlighted by SqueezeMetrics. Higher implied volatility strengthened an automatic buying mechanism, supporting markets.

Graphic: Retrieved from SqueezeMetrics. Dealer S&P 500 Vanna Exposure or VEX.

This phenomenon is partially attributed to the significant options selling discussed in our recent newsletters, acknowledging the warnings issued by Cem Karsan of Kai Volatility and Kris Sidial of The Ambrus Group. Essentially, there’s been a rush among options sellers to enter into sizable positions, exemplified by the substantial options selling activity observed last week. UBS Group highlighted the persistence of this concerning toxic flow, noting aggressive trader actions, such as the sale of “70K of Thursday expiry 4120 puts at 0.05 on Wednesday.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The estimated risk profile of this position is provided below (please allow for a margin of error of a day or two due to expiry). Essentially, it’s unfavorable, with the option seller at risk of losing much money if the market drops or implied volatility increases. Please be aware that we’re assessing this position independently, without knowledge of the option seller’s overall portfolio, including potential risk offsets from other positions they may hold.

Graphic: Retrieved from TD Ameritrade’s thinkorswim platform using the Analyze function.

Customers favoring such positive delta “short skew” positions prompt dealers on the other side to assume a negative delta (i.e., make money if the market is lower or implied volatility is higher) “long skew” or “long options” position, which they may manage through the sale of put options or the purchase of call options, underlying stock shares, or futures for hedging purposes. For a deeper understanding of these mechanisms, refer to SqueezeMetrics’ paper, “The Implied Order Book.”

Graphic: Retrieved from SqueezeMetrics.

This all happened during a seasonally weak period. We’ll go past the positioning side of things in a moment, so bear with me, but you can see the drop-off in options deltas following mid-February below.

Graphic: Retrieved from ConvexValue.

In essence, despite the anticipated reduction in options-based support, which Cem Karsan describes as a “window of non-strength” or a scenario conducive to increased volatility, the market’s reaction to Tuesday’s drop stemmed volatility. Observing these dynamics in real-time, here’s how we responded.

Graphic: Retrieved from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

We had proactively positioned ourselves for a potentially weaker February, capitalizing on overlooked hedge opportunities outlined in recent newsletters—specifically, put spreads like butterflies. Others did similar, with Nomura Americas Cross-Asset Macro Strategist Charlie McElligott noting increased buying of put butterfly spreads in recent weeks (please see our late January and early February letters).

Depending on their setup (including the distance between strikes, the distance from the spot price, and the expiration timeframe), these spreads were positioned to profit from market declines. When the drop occurred, the unbalanced, very far out-of-the-money structures were priced to be closed at a small debit loss when the skew elevated substantially. Utilizing real-time analysis, we concluded it was opportune to increase our exposure to these far out-of-the-money units, capitalizing on the surge in implied volatility while cashing in on the closer spreads priced for a credit profit.

Graphic: Retrieved from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

As markets recovered, we closed the recently initiated riskier spreads, freeing up buying power for opportunities elsewhere, such as in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Super Micro Computer Inc (NASDAQ: SMCI), where a significant volatility skew, driven by heightened call options trading, enabled us to generate credit from short-dated spread trades.

By Friday’s end, we achieved one of our most successful weeks of the year, boosting our confidence and reinforcing our patience with underperforming trades, like the put butterfly hedges. PAY-tience!

Graphic: Retrieved from TD Ameritrade’s thinkorswim platform.

What motivated our actions? Let’s elaborate.

Tactically, we favor owning options to express our opinions efficiently selling options further out to reduce costs. Occasionally, we will utilize a ratio, such as selling two options for every one purchased. For those less experienced, simplicity often proves effective. Consider straightforward approaches like purchasing a wide put vertical, entailing buying a put, and selling a put at some greater distance. Depending on your position, the returns may come in at multiples of each unit of risk undertaken.

Furthermore, the speculative trading and crowded positions in equities (as previously discussed in this and prior newsletters), along with the persistent volatility skew (as indicated by the yellow line compared to the grey line below), imply that hedging strategies (such as owning longer-dated calls and selling stock/futures as a combination, or using put option spread strategies to hedge shares) may continue to be appealing.

Graphic: Retrieved from SpotGamma. Volatility skew for S&P 500 options expiring March 15, 2024.

In terms of what to hedge, as highlighted by Fallacy Alarm, mid-February traditionally signals local market peaks due to significant cash injections followed by selling pressure to cover tax obligations. Additionally, a dilemma presents itself: should the focus be on combating inflation or stimulating growth? Presently, the data would dissuade anticipated rate cuts, though such actions might be contemplated if the Personal Consumption Expenditure, a key metric, points to lower price increases, particularly in services. Current interest rate projections suggest a bimodal scenario with a low probability of sudden rate declines.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

As further context, John Authers of Bloomberg says there remains a risk of overheating or a scenario where the economy remains robust, eventually forcing the Federal Reserve (Fed) to tighten policies until it precipitates a recession. This is in disagreement with TS Lombard. They question whether the Fed’s current stance is overly restrictive, while Bob Elliott of Unlimited Funds suggests that rates may decrease in response to slowing growth. Eventually, the persistent inflation stemming from structural factors could prompt subsequent rate hikes driven by increased funding needs.

Graphic: Retrieved from Sven Henrich.

Traders must remain vigilant, adopting strategic approaches to hedge exuberance and so-called windows of non-strength. Should there be “a stronger catalyst than a telegraphed CPI print,” says Kris Sidial, then “both tails and skew are likely to perform well,” with any rally, given the short-volatility, likely to unsettle positioning, leading dealers to boost momentum and whipsaw. In other words, much lower or higher markets, coupled with more demand for puts or calls respectively, means dealers take on more short volatility risk, which they adjust for by repricing options higher and hedging with underlying asset sales (in the case of puts) or purchases (in the case of calls).

Graphic: Retrieved from Bank of America Corporation.

In conclusion, we remain mindful that it’s an election year, which could lead to heightened monetary and fiscal support in response to any weaknesses. While we maintain a positive outlook over the long term, we’re less optimistic in the short term.

This week, our attention is directed toward protecting our cash by rolling our remaining S&P 500 box spreads (acting as synthetic T-bills without impacting our buying power). We aim to secure these interest rates, keep a close watch on high-performing assets like silver, and replenish our long put skew (i.e., purchasing put spreads) in equities to hedge against potential vulnerabilities ahead. Following earnings announcements, we may resume engagement with companies such as Nvidia.

Graphic: Example of trade structuring. Retrieved from Physik Invest. This does not accurately represent this newsletter writer’s position. However, it is close. Note that one may own stock on top of this and view positions in aggregate.

If you’re wondering what’s up with the newsletter formatting over the past weeks, we are trying stuff. Let us know what you like and don’t like. Cheers, and have a good week! And, finally, if you can, share!

The cover photo was retrieved from a RidgeHaven Capital post on Seeking Alpha.

Categories
Commentary

Bubblicious

Good Morning! I hope you had a great weekend and enjoy today’s letter. I would be so honored if you could comment and/or share this post. Cheers!

Optimism from earnings growth among large stocks overshadows concerns about instability abroadquarterly debt sales, and the diminishing likelihood of an immediate interest rate cut.

“The U.S. is doing pretty well,” Yardeni Research founder Ed Yardeni remarks, noting a shift from speculation about interest rates allows the market to focus on fundamentals. “Right now, the fundamentals are good for the economy. And, there’s plenty of hype around about.”

Multiple rate cuts totaling nearly 125 basis points in the next year remain expected. This seems extreme unless there’s a market crash, says Harley Bassman, inventor of the MOVE Index measuring bond market volatility. Bassman believes current pricing reflects a bimodal scenario, with an 85% chance rates remain stable and a 15% chance they drop to 1%. Combining these probabilities, the market arrives at the anticipated cuts by year-end.

Naturally, markets are cyclical, moving from one extreme to another. Despite the fundamentals being in order, a lack of broad participation is evident in the more significant number of declining stocks than advancing ones. This situation, resembling patterns seen during the late ‘90s infotech-and-telecom boom, is frequently an indicator of less resilient future returns.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bank of America Global Research.

Ryan Detrick of Carson Group notes that February typically experiences less momentum than January, often due to reinvestment and bonus inflows. Data shows that when the S&P 500 recorded a 20% gain for the year, February tended to underperform, especially in the latter half of the month, which typically marked the weakest two-week period of the year.

Graphic: Retrieved from SentimenTrader via Jason Goepfert.

While the same volatility-suppressing trades detailed in last week’s letter continue to support markets where they are ceteris paribus (where customers sell volatility, and dealers hedge by buying stock/futures during declines and selling during strength), there has been “SPX/SPY downside buying (put flys) and ongoing VIX call buying,” Nomura Americas Cross-Asset Macro Strategist Charlie McElligott writes. This steepens implied volatility skew, benefitting the underappreciated hedge opportunities shared in Physik Invest’s Market Intelligence letters.

Graphic: Retrieved from SpotGamma on February 5, 2024.

The recent repricing has allowed unbalanced, out-of-the-money options spreads to retain their value better amid ongoing market gains. The focus has shifted from worries about missed opportunities to safeguarding against potential downturns. This shift may be attributed to concerns beyond poor market breadth and the possibility of localized issues in places like China impacting global markets. These include geopolitical tensionsturbulence in specific capital market segments, lingering effects of extensive government spending, and looming debt crises.

Graphic: Retrieved from SpotGamma on February 1, 2024.

With the popularity of yield-enhancing trades like selling options, there’s concern that if significant market movements materialize, a greater share of end users will shift to buying options, indirectly exacerbating market volatility and downside.

Graphic: Retrieved from QVR Advisors.

To explain this phenomenon, we start with the options delta, which measures how much an option’s price will change for every $1 change in the underlying asset’s price. When end users sell put options, market makers buy them, assuming a negative delta stance, thus prompting them to acquire the underlying asset to hedge (which has a positive delta). Conversely, when end users buy put options, dealers sell them, taking on a positive delta. Consequently, they need to sell the underlying asset (which has a negative delta) to hedge. In sharp and volatile market declines, options sellers may opt to cover their positions by purchasing options, thereby diminishing stability as counterparties hedge in line with the market movement.

Graphic: Retrieved from Nomura.

Kris Sidial from The Ambrus Group emphasizes second-order effects are further amplified due to the large scale of options selling, adding concentration among market makers as another risk to watch. Scott Rubner, a tactical specialist at Goldman Sachs Group, concurs current market problems, and the unwind of stretched positioning may lead to a weak February.

Categories
Commentary

Turning Nickels Into Dollars: A Winning Strategy For Market Crashes

Good Morning! I hope you had a great weekend and enjoy today’s letter. I would be so honored if you could comment and/or share this post. Cheers!

Risk appetite in the last months was fueled by the emergence of a “goldilocks disinflation thesis,” describes Marko Kolanovic of JPMorgan Chase & Co. This thesis envisions a no-recession scenario where central banks cut rates early, especially in the lead-up to elections.

The market is banking on such anticipatory movement by the Federal Reserve, pricing five rate cuts and the target interest rate moving from 525-550 to 400-425 basis points by year-end. With the backdrop of easing liquidity conditions through 2025 and continuing economic growth, equity investors are positioning for a broader rally. This has led to churn and a loss of momentum.

Graphic: Retrieved from Carson Investment Research via Ryan Detrick.

Though historical trends encourage optimism, Kolanovic is concerned markets are overlooking geopolitical events, such as the Houthi shipping attacksexercises near the Suwałki Gap, and Russia’s testing of electronic warfare. Despite these potential disruptors, atypically low volatility skew and implied correlation indicate a lack of market responsiveness and positioning for less movement.

Recall skew reflects a scenario where increased market volatility disproportionately impacts farther away strike options due to losses from more frequent delta rebalancing in a moving market, leading option sellers to assign higher implied volatility to those strikes to compensate for increased risk. The relationship between index volatility and its components involves both individual volatilities and correlation, with implied correlation as a valuable indicator for pricing dynamics between index options and their components and trading volatility dispersion.

Appearing on The Market Huddle, Kai Volatility’s Cem Karsan emphasized the impact of more structured product issuance and investor volatility selling on index levels, describing how it pins the index and lowers correlation. When a dealer, bank, or market maker on the other side owns options, they need to buy the market when it goes down and sell when it goes up, keeping the index tight and realized volatility low. Much less of this, or even the opposite, is happening in single stocks, so they aren’t experiencing the same level of suppression.

Graphic: Retrieved from The Ambrus Group’s Kris Sidial. Higher short Vega exposure, growing derivative income fund and equity short vol hedge fund AUM, a larger auto-callable market, and record-high dispersion trading flow suppress index vol, posing significant risks.

“As dealers buy and sell index exposure, market makers will attempt to keep the index level and the underlying basket in line via arbitrage constraints,” Newfound Research well explained in their Liquidity Cascades paper. “If dealer hedging has suppressed index-level volatility, but underlying components are still exhibiting idiosyncratic volatility, then the only reconciliation is a decline in correlation.”

SpotGamma’s Brent Kochuba weighs in, noting low correlation typically aligns with interim stock market highs, presenting a potential cause for caution. Examining data since January 2018, Kochuba points out that the SPX’s average close-to-close change is 88 basis points, with the open-to-close average at 70 basis points. This analysis suggests the current SPX implied volatility (IV) is relatively low. While low IV levels can persist, the concern arises as current readings hint at overbought conditions.

“These low IVs can last for some time, but the general point here is that current readings are starting to suggest overbought conditions as index vols are priced for risk-less perfection, and single stock vols expand due to upside call chasing.”

Graphic: Retrieved from SpotGamma. Short-dated S&P 500 implied volatility is compressed. Updated Sunday, January 28, 2024.

Nomura Cross-Asset Macro Strategist Charlie McElligott explains selling volatility, which continues to attract money as it’s been profitable, is a stabilizing trade in most cases. Kris Sidial, Co-Chief Investment Officer at The Ambrus Group, warns it may end spectacularly in his most recent appearances. The situation in China is a cautionary example, where stock volatility triggered a destructive selling cycle as market participants grappled with structured product risk management.

Graphic: Retrieved from Reuters.

Accordingly, for those who perceive a meaningful chance of movement, there is value in owning options, Goldman Sachs Group says, noting they expect more movement than is priced.

Graphic: Retrieved from Goldman Sachs Group via VolSignals.

Karsan, drawing parallels to the unwind of short volatility and dispersion trade from February to March of 2020, says the still-crowded trade can be compared to two sumo wrestlers or colossal plates on the Earth’s core exerting immense pressure against each other. While the trade may appear balanced and continue far longer, the accumulated pressures pose significant risks.

Graphic: Retrieved from JPMorgan Chase & Co via @jaredhstocks.

Major crashes happen when entities must trade volatility and options. Often, the trigger is the inability to cover the margin and meet regulatory requirements, causing a cascading effect.

Karsan, drawing on 25 years of experience, notes a precursor to a crash is a weakening supply of margin puts, particularly the highly convex and far out-of-the-money ones. These options play a significant role during stressful market periods, acting as indicators and drivers of impending crashes. The focus is on their convexity rather than whether they will be in the money, as the margin requirements become a determining factor in their impact on market dynamics. History shows a minor catalyst can lead to a dramatic unwind, turning one week to expiry $0.05 to $0.15 S&P 500 put options into $10.00 overnight.

“Prior to the XIV crash day, … going into the close the last hour, we saw nickel, ten, and five-cent options trade up to about $0.50 and $0.70. They really started to pop in the last hour. And then, the next day, we opened up and they were worth $10.00. You don’t see them go from a nickel to $0.50 very often. If you do, don’t sell them. Buy them, which is the next trade.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

Setting aside the pessimistic narrative, the current scenario favors continued ownership of risk assets. Cautious optimism surrounds this week’s Quarterly Refunding Announcement (QRA), “depending on how much bill issuance is scaled back and on the absolute funding needs,” CrossBorder Capital explained, coupled with Fed-speak and anticipation of cutting interest rates on falling inflation later this year. Still, according to Unlimited Funds ‘ Bob Elliott, predicting outcomes following this week’s releases lacks an advantage; instead, in this environment of churn, momentum loss, and indicators like low correlation and volatility, last week’s trades for managing potential downside stick out, particularly vis-à-vis volatility skew.

Graphic: Retrieved from SpotGamma. Updated Sunday, January 28, 2024.
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Commentary

Hakkiyoi!

Hey, all! I hope you had a great weekend. Today, we dive into what’s driving markets and what the near future may look like. On Monday, we will do deeper dives like this. Friday, we’ll try for recaps. Trade ideas are coming soon via monthly research, which will look similar to this linked document.


Market momentum slowed with bumps in economic and inflation data last week, yet the trend of economic resilience and declining inflation persists. Anticipation looms over a potential shift in the Federal Reserve’s approach, with traders awaiting Tuesday for insights from Governor Christopher Waller regarding the possibility of a decrease in interest rates.

CrossBorder Capital remarks the economy may avoid recession, attributing this to economic measures adjusted for distortion—an increase in adjusted yields points to a mild recovery in business activity later in the year.

Graphic: Retrieved from CrossBorder Capital. Based on the mortgage curve, they calculate a 10-year Treasury yield 110 basis points higher. A steeper curve implies easier monetary conditions.

Former open markets trader Joseph Wang maintains cautious optimism, foreseeing cuts, albeit less aggressive than the market prices. However, Cem Karsan from Kai Volatility suggests that if anticipated stock struggles and declines reach 10% or more, more decisive, politically motivated actions may be taken ahead of the election.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via Joseph Wang. The SOFR term structure provides insights into the market’s expectations for short-term interest rates over various time horizons.

In any case, injecting money into a healthy economy is bullish. That being so, Goldman Sachs foresees the S&P 500 reaching 4,950 to 5,050 by 2025. Wang, emphasizing the potential benefits of both monetary and fiscal stimulus, notes deficit spending ultimately triggers an increase in both yields and risk assets like stocks.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

Cryptocurrencies may also benefit, with some anticipating the approval of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund to invigorate a bullish trend akin to the impact of State Street’s Gold Trust on the gold market. However, not all share this optimism, including Tom McClellan, who parallels a situation in 1974 when investors bid up gold prices in anticipation of Americans regaining the right to own gold, only to witness a decline of 41% in prices by August 1976.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

Whether higher rates persist or not, specific forces are at play that are unlikely to destabilize the market markedly. Elevated rates give rise to an increased demand for what is termed “one-sided and risky positioning,” elongating the market cycle and reducing short-term volatility through mechanical interventions. This artificial stability sends misleading signals, fostering even more interest in this type of trading. Karsan aptly dubs it the “sumomarket,” echoing Amy Wu Silverman of RBC Capital Markets’ insight that such strategies aren’t indefinite and may sour.

Graphic: Retrieved from Cboe Global Indices.

We hedge when we can, not when we must! Traditional reliance on bonds falls short in a landscape where correlations have transformed. During the subdued realized and implied volatility, traders protect against pullbacks, particularly during or after the earnings season, by buying Cboe VIX call options.

In the realm of alternatives, the choice depends on your timeframe and view on price trajectories. We gave explanations last year, revealing options like allocating principal to less risky assets such as box spreads utilized as collateral for margin-intensive trades. For those eyeing the short-term downside, ultra-wide butterflies—equidistant or slightly broken—emerge as a consideration. Contrastingly, if it were 2022, cheaper ratio spreads would be preferred due to the subdued tendencies of implied volatility. However, with “over-positioning into short volatility,” that may no longer be the case.

Categories
Commentary

Daily Brief For May 11, 2023

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US consumer prices rose by 4.9% in the 12 months to April, down from the previous month’s 5%. Wednesday’s figures suggest inflation is moderating and emboldens the case for a pause to interest rate increases.

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

“The Fed will want to see declines in these statistical measures for a few more months before it could feel comfortable about cutting rates,” John Authers writes.

Notwithstanding “sticky price inflation” falling (only “if shelter prices are excluded,” the most challenging “front in the battle on inflation”), applications to purchase and refinance homes rose with yields falling, and that’s exactly what the Fed doesn’t want.

Many maintain the Fed is looking to walk-up long-end yields, and that’s problematic for assets; higher interest rates portend lesser allocations toward risky assets.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

Pimco’s Erin Browne and Emmanuel Sharef add that “12-month returns following the final rate hike could be flat for 10-year U.S. Treasuries, while the S&P 500 could sell off sharply.” 

Graphic: Retrieved from Pimco.

Accordingly, bonds look attractive “for their diversification, capital preservation, and upside opportunities,” while “earnings expectations appear too high, and valuations too rich,” warranting “underweight” equities positioning

Graphic: Retrieved from Pimco.

Compounding the risks are flows “that eventually will constrain lending and nominal growth on a 6- to 12-month horizon,” writes Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS).

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg via The Market Ear. “The bull in money market funds refuses to cool down.”

In other news was worry over a US debt default.

The US government has been using accounting measures to provide cash after reaching a borrowing limit. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed Congress that these measures might be exhausted by June, resulting in payment disruptions; a default would cause an economic disaster and “global downturn,” threatening “US global economic leadership” and “national security,” Yellen says. A solution (e.g., to raise the debt ceiling) could manifest issuance of “a substantial amount of bills in 2H23 … that would drain liquidity,” Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) writes.

Despite the worry, markets are contained in part due to positioning contexts. Decline in realized volatility (RVOL), coupled with implied volatility (IVOL) premium, makes it difficult for the market to resolve directionally.

In fact, Nomura Holdings Inc (NYSE: NMR) said it sees “significant further potential for additional equities re-allocation buying from the vol control space over the next month if this ongoing rVol smash / tight daily ranges phenomenon holds—i.e., +$37.8B of US Equities to buy on theoretical 50bps daily SPX change).”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

Options are sold systematically as traders aim to extract the premium; the Ambrus Group’s Kris Sidial says there is a puking off options exposures and short-bias activity (i.e., selling options) used as yield enhancement as traders call bluff on authorities not being there to prevent crises. 

Graphic: Retrieved from Sergei Perfiliev. “This is a 1-month vol – it’s 30 calendar days for implied and I’m using 20 trading days for realized – both of which represent a month.” Note that “juicy VRP = big difference between options’ implied vol (what you pay) and realized vol (what you got). Options are cheap historically, but expensive relative to realized vol.”

Should readers wish to hedge the debt ceiling debacle, June call options on the Cboe Volatility Index appear attractive, some suggest. But, with RVOL as low as it is, owning optionality is not generally warranted. The risk is lower volatility, not higher.


About

Welcome to the Daily Brief by Physik Invest, a soon-to-launch research, consulting, trading, and asset management solutions provider. Learn about our origin story here, and consider subscribing for daily updates on the critical contexts that could lend to future market movement.

Separately, please don’t use this free letter as advice; all content is for informational purposes, and derivatives carry a substantial risk of loss. At this time, Capelj and Physik Invest, non-professional advisors, will never solicit others for capital or collect fees and disbursements. Separately, you may view this letter’s content calendar at this link.

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Commentary

Daily Brief For May 10, 2023

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Our levels have been working. For instance, as shown below, yesterday’s Daily Brief levels were key response areas for the Micro E-mini S&P 500 Index (FUTURE: /MES).

Graphic: Retrieved from TradingView.

Some of the levels overlap centers of options activity; falling volatility coincides with increased sensitivity among those options, lending to reversion and responsiveness.

“This continues to suggest that our theoretical framework of ‘options dominance’ is indeed the driver. In 2017 when the XIV (inverted VIX ETF) was king of the hill, that 44bps high-low range would have been the 47%ile,” reports Tier1Alpha. “If you think these markets are boring, try 2017. Our suspicion is that similar forces are at work, just concentrated in 0dte options. The 2017 bear market in vol came to an end with Volmaggedon. The cycle will end this time as well, but the catalyst remains to be seen.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Michael Green of Simplify Asset Management.

Consequently, per SpotGamma, “there is little room for error.”

From an options positioning perspective, for volatility to reprice lower and boost the market, “we need a change in [the] volatility regime,” SpotGamma previously added. The likelihood of that happening is low since many expect the Federal Reserve (Fed) to stick to its message of higher rates for longer, notwithstanding the consumer price index rising by a below-forecast 4.9%, the first sub-5% reading in two years. Overall prices remain hot, and the job market remains robust. Policymakers need more than one month of data to be confident that prices are on a sustained downward path, Bloomberg reports.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

“Inflation is higher than the Fed’s mandate and not on a path to get to that mandate soon. The CPI report is one data point, and most measures show elevated inflation. Areas that had been disinflationary are reverting. And the stickiest parts of inflation remain elevated.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bob Elliott of Unlimited Funds.

So, support for a pause or hold is the more likely scenario.

“When pauses have occurred against the backdrop of tight labor markets, the Fed has rarely eased in the subsequent six months — the most common outcome has been an on-hold Fed,” explained Praveen Korapaty of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS). “In contrast, periods with material deterioration in the labor market have more reliably resulted in easing. At least during this period, the inflation backdrop at the time of the pause does not appear to have had a material influence on policy actions.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) via Bloomberg. “As this chart from Goldman shows, when the employment is tight (which it plainly is at present), pauses tend to become extended. It’s only when employment is seriously deteriorating (on the right side of the chart) that the Fed pivots swiftly.”

Moreover, heading into price updates this morning, the expectation was for a smaller move in the S&P 500. However, with volatility very low, we’ve maintained that selling options blindly is dangerous. When you least expect significant movement, it often happens; just before the opening, the market has moved over 1.0%.

Graphic: Retrieved from Pat Hennessy of IPS Strategic Captial Management. “Welp, it was fun while it lasted. SPX straddle only pricing 83bps for tomorrow ahead of CPI, lowest on record since dailies were listed in May 2022.”

Check out our detailed trade structuring report for more on how to better manage a portfolio in this enviornment.

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg. “The case for concerted easing rests fundamentally on the yield curve. Long-dated bonds have been paying a lower rate than shorter securities for the best part of a year, and this is a well-known recession indicator,” John Authers says. “It’s also a serious headache for banks, who traditionally borrow at low short rates (via deposits), lend at a higher rate, and make their profit from the difference. Banks, we know, are in trouble. If claims of a ‘crisis’ are a tad overblown, the deposit flight created for them by the inverted curve will contribute to the recessionary environment.” A way for the curve to return to its usual shape is for the Fed to cut rates, but the consensus among pros is that won’t happen for some more time.

About

Welcome to the Daily Brief by Physik Invest, a soon-to-launch research, consulting, trading, and asset management solutions provider. Learn about our origin story here, and consider subscribing for daily updates on the critical contexts that could lend to future market movement.

Separately, please don’t use this free letter as advice; all content is for informational purposes, and derivatives carry a substantial risk of loss. At this time, Capelj and Physik Invest, non-professional advisors, will never solicit others for capital or collect fees and disbursements. Separately, you may view this letter’s content calendar at this link.

Categories
Commentary

Daily Brief For May 9, 2023

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Sentiment calmer on the heels of some weaker-than-expected data from China. Generally speaking, markets are holding well, led by technology and innovation. 

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

Price doesn’t tell the whole story, however. Breadth is softening while market boosters are slowly being picked off. Tier1Alpha says that “1-month realized volatility rose nearly 13%, [and] … if volatility continues to rise, it will have an outsized effect on the 1-month vol, as the sample is now largely filled by the smaller returns we experienced in April.” Altogether, this “could result in larger [selling] flows being triggered from systematic strategies that use volatility scaling as a means for risk control.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bespoke Investment Group via The Market Ear.

“With that vol premium getting squeezed out, there is little room for error,” SpotGamma adds; uncertainties that may manifest pressure and compound weaknesses under the hood include inflation reports and the debt ceiling issue.

“The next big moment comes Tuesday, when President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders,” Bloomberg explains. “The meeting is high stakes. Republican leaders want promises of future spending cuts before they approve a higher ceiling, while Biden is insisting on a ‘clean’ increase.”

Further, traders expect increased chances of rate cuts. This may not be outlandish; “Looking at the past 17 hiking episodes, the two-year, 10-year Treasury yield curve bottoms out 108 trading days before the first rate cut.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg.

“Using that guide, the 2s10s curve reached negative 111 basis points on March 8 and has since steepened to about negative 41 basis points. Assuming that marked the trough, 108 trading days lands in mid-August — sandwiched between the Fed’s July 26 and September 20 rate decisions.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg. “Look at the gap between the three-month and the 10-year yields, generally regarded as a surefire recession indicator. It’s also a great indicator of imminent rate cuts. An inversion is also a timing signal because it makes little or no sense unless you’re confident that rate cuts will be starting soon. And over the last 30 years, the curve has never been as inverted as it is now.”

For better hedging participation in market upside, check out Physik Invest’s recently published trade structuring report.

Graphic: Retrieved from BNP Paribas (OTC: BNPQY) via Bloomberg. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) strategistsay that “the first quarter will likely be the high point for stocks this year, … adding that equities won’t reach lows until the Fed has pivoted to rate cuts.”

About

Welcome to the Daily Brief by Physik Invest, a soon-to-launch research, consulting, trading, and asset management solutions provider. Learn about our origin story here, and consider subscribing for daily updates on the critical contexts that could lend to future market movement.

Separately, please don’t use this free letter as advice; all content is for informational purposes, and derivatives carry a substantial risk of loss. At this time, Capelj and Physik Invest, non-professional advisors, will never solicit others for capital or collect fees and disbursements. Separately, you may view this letter’s content calendar at this link.

Categories
Commentary

Daily Brief For May 2, 2023

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First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC) is in the news for its failure. FRC was known for handing out mortgages at rock-bottom rates. When interest rates rose, the bank’s book of mortgages was hurt and left it with not enough to suffice withdrawals. 

“FRC believed its business model of extraordinary customer service and product pricing would result in superior customer loyalty through all cycles,” wrote Timothy Coffey of Janney Montgomery Scott. “Instead, too many FRC customers showed their true loyalties were to their own fears.”

This “marks the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history, behind the 2008 collapse of Washington Mutual Inc.,” reports WSJ; after the instability in March, the bank finally succumbed to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate increases and depositor worry.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) acquired the bulk of FRC’s operations.

Graphic: Retrieved from JPM. See a nice summary by @brandonjcarl.

Further, research shows money is getting tighter, a headwind for the economy, while inflation is sticky and the Fed’s bond holdings are preventing tightening from being effective; WSJ reports the Fed’s balance sheet loaded with bonds may be insulating stocks from interest rate policies. 

“Quantitative easing locked the Fed into a position that is difficult to unwind,” said Stephen Miran of Amberwave Partners. Quantitative easing, or QE, made stocks less sensitive to interest rates. “It’s made tightening both slower and less effective than it should have been.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Bloomberg. The Fed’s favorite measure of inflation, the core PCE index, has been consistently stuck around 4-5% since 2022. The employment cost index, which shows wage growth at around 4-5%, is inconsistent with a 2% inflation target.

Not “adjusting balance-sheet policy,” but raising rates to 5.00-5.25% as expected, ‘is akin to “hitting the same nail with a hammer over and over again.’” Therefore, stocks, which are higher alongside surprising economic and earnings data, though risky, can do “ok” for longer, comments Andy Constan of Damped Spring Advisors.

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

The sale of volatility bolsters the stability and emboldens upside bettors, adds JPM’s Marko Kolanovic, who finds “selling of options forces intraday reversion, leaving the market price virtually unchanged many days.”

Graphic: Retrieved from Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS).

“This, in turn, drives buying of stocks by funds that mechanically increase exposure when volatility declines (e.g., volatility targeting and risk parity funds),” he elaborates. “This market dynamic artificially suppresses perceptions of fundamental macro risks. The low hurdle rate and robust fundamentals bode well for 1Q earnings results, but we advise using any market strength on reporting to reduce exposure.”

At this juncture, yes, stocks can move sideways or higher for a bit longer as a function of “momentum, not value,” Simplify Asset Management’s Michael Green concludes. Traders can position for this and various levels of potential upset later with structures included in a report we published last week.


About

Welcome to the Daily Brief by Physik Invest, a soon-to-launch research, consulting, trading, and asset management solutions provider. Learn about our origin story here, and consider subscribing for daily updates on the critical contexts that could lend to future market movement.

Separately, please don’t use this free letter as advice; all content is for informational purposes, and derivatives carry a substantial risk of loss. At this time, Capelj and Physik Invest, non-professional advisors, will never solicit others for capital or collect fees and disbursements. Separately, you may view this letter’s content calendar at this link.