Description

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A guide to using the VIX to forecast and trade markets

Known as the fear index, the VIX provides a snapshot of expectations about future stock market volatility and generally moves inversely to the overall stock market. Trading VIX Derivatives will show you how to use the Chicago Board Options Exchange's S&P 500 volatility index to gauge fear and greed in the market, use market volatility to your advantage, and hedge stock portfolios. Engaging and informative, this book skillfully explains the mechanics and strategies associated with trading VIX options, futures, exchange traded notes, and options on exchange traded notes.

Many market participants look at the VIX to help understand market sentiment and predict turning points. With a slew of VIX index trading products now available, traders can use a variety of strategies to speculate outright on the direction of market volatility, but they can also utilize these products in conjunction with other instruments to create spread trades or hedge their overall risk.

• Reviews how to use the VIX to forecast market turning points, as well as reveals what it takes to implement trading strategies using VIX options, futures, and ETNs
• Accessible to active individual traders, but sufficiently sophisticated for professional traders
• Offers insights on how volatility-based strategies can be used to provide diversification and enhance returns

Written by Russell Rhoads, a top instructor at the CBOE's Options Institute, this book reflects on the wide range of uses associated with the VIX and will interest anyone looking for profitable new forecasting and trading techniques.

About the Author

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RUSSELL RHOADS, CFA, is an instructor for the Options Institute at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. He teaches about ninety classes a year and conducts webinars on behalf of the CBOE and a variety of brokerage firms. Rhoads's twenty-year trading career has included positions at a variety of trading firms and hedge funds. His background includes trading and analysis, and he is the author of the Wiley titles Candlestick Charting For Dummies and Option Spread Trading. Rhoads graduated from the University of Memphis with an MS in finance and has a master's certificate in financial engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.