The Long & Short of Futures Options The Options Insider Radio Network

We took a look a the best episodes from 2016 to pull our favorite segments and interviews, including:
Akuna Capital at FIA Boca Derek Sammann at FIA Expo with Nick Howard Brexit; post-Election with Blu Putnam Weekly Wednesday with Tim McCourt

In this episode, we feature Blu Putnam, Chief Economist, CME Group.
He discusses:
Looking back at pre- and post-election volatility environments: A Tale of Two Volatility Regimes. Was the ferocity of the selloff in the overnight session surprising? Were there any interesting quirks or trends in CME options and futures volume that day/night? An overview for volatility going forward Nine Challenges Facing Markets Post-U.S. Election Listener Mail: Listener questions and comments
Options#QuestionOfTheWeek: Commodities are capturing a lot of attention and generating a lot of volatility. What's your option of choice?
$GLD / Comex Gold $USO / $WTI $TLT / ED / 10YR EUR/USD, GPB/USD Question from Alan McKay: I am starting my undergrad next year and I am thinking about majoring in economics with a concentration in derivatives. Any suggestions for programs? Question from Invern3ss: I have a theory regarding why WTI Weekly options don’t trade as much as the monthlies. Could it be because the vast majority of customers are using the product to hedge existing long positions by purchasing puts. So a weekly would not be suited to their needs since it would just waste too much money through decay. Thanks for your great network. Please keep the shows coming. I’m a proud listener, newsletter subscriber, website reader and app user.

Coming to you from the Futures Industry Conference in Chicago, Mark is joined by Nick Howard, founder of QuikStrike and Derek Samman, CME Group Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Commodities Options and Products.
They discuss:
The great year that CME has been having in 2016 This outsize growth was fueled by options What trends are we seeing in futures options? Are retail traders becoming more active in futures options? The trend towards trading on microevents The short-duration expiration options. Will there be daily expiration options? Crude! Puts are still very expensive Natural gas options business grew 40% year-over-year Soybeans driven by volatility and volatility skew 72% of ag options are trading electronically Managing options flow outside of seasonal patterns Metals! It's been an interesting year. Gold call bias...the rent is cheap Don't forget the less sexy metals What can we look forward to from CME in the next year?

On this episode, Mark is joined by Blu Putnam, Chief Economist, CME Group and Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity Products, CME Group.
They discuss:
What are some potential drivers of market volatility? Paper: Equity Volatility in 2016 and Beyond Paper: Calm Before the Volatility Storm in Equities? What are some potential drivers of volatility in the near future? Earnings season The election The Fed? What impact, if any, will these have on the broad equity markets? Rise of the Weeklies Why launch a Wednesday weekly? What additional value does this product bring to customers? Listener questions: Discussing what you want to know
Question from Vegs - I am seeing lots of big fat options OI tied to the big ES 2200 strike. Does this mean big traders are betting that the S&P will rally past 2200? Can all of this open interest have the net effect of forcing the S&P to that strike at expiration? Do you view this open interest solely coming from pros or are retail reflected there as well? Question from TCal - I am a somewhat new oil options trader primarily in WTI. Over the last few months I have noticed that the majority of volume trades in the front month. This is particularly true in active weeks such as during the OPEC meeting. I have had success buying weekly options going into these events. But in these same active periods I have not seen the surge of activity in the weekly WTI that I expected. This is surprising given the similar interest in weeklies in most other option products. Is this a function of the large institutional presence in WTI options? Perhaps there is a nuance of the product that I am missing that is not conducive to weeklies? I would appreciate your insight into this. Thank you for producing so much great free programming on your network.  

In light of the CME's Metals Conference, Mark takes the show on the road and brings together a New York-style round table including:
Nick Howard: Founder of Bantix Technologies Miguel Vias: Senior Director and Head of Precious Metals, CME Group Erik Norland, Senior Economist, CME Group They discuss:
All things precious metals, and Erik's paper "Gold Storm on the Horizon" What has happened to gold skew post-Brexit? What is going on in gold vol? What will drive it higher? Silver: the stepchild to gold? Eriks' most recent paper, "Gold and Silver: Fed Rake Hike vs. Mine Output" The forward curve does not allow for any Fed increases The relationship between gold and silver The new metals-related products coming soon from CME

Host:
Mark Longo, Founder & CEO, Options Insider Media Group Guests:
Dan Passarelli, Founder - Market Taker Mentoring Todd Rich, President - OptionMonster Media Sarah Linane, Sr. Futures Specialist - OptionsHouse & Aperture Group, LLC Topics
On this episode of LSFO we take a deep dive into all things volatility. We explore the impact of volatility and explore options trading strategies in the following product categories:
Index Options Crude Oil Precious Metals Ags and more... Listener Mail: Listener questions and comments
Question from AL08: IV or HV - Which is most important? Which should I pay attention to? Question from Cristoff: Do you guys only trade options or do you trade futures too? How do you decide when to use which? Question from Tim: Size aside, what are the other primary benefits of trading ES options instead of SPY?