Through 2/3 of a Q

Apparently, it wasn't my week off and I was actually responsible for getting a post or two out there. I have one ready to go, but its just a random trading story and to be honest, it still needs work. So, while I work on that, chew on this and some of our current trades.

Euro Dollars: 

Green March {'14} 9912.5 straddles:

We've continued to scalp the gamma as we've moved around. Our best sale to date was 9936.5 and on Friday we were able to buy in 9912s directly on the number. As the futures have traded lower, we've dumped all of our puts associated with the straddle for deltas. Average sale on those puts has been around 4 ticks. Currently our position is carrying an 80% short delta vs our remaining calls. This has been a laborious trade and would have been significantly better had we executed a few days later with the 9925 straddle instead of the 9912.5.

April 9950 straddles vs June 9937.5 puts:

We do this trade once a quarter, selling the April straddle to buy the June puts. The risk is that LIBOR explodes higher as we're naked short upside. Historically we collect between 5 and 7 ticks to put this trade on and usually get out when it drifts towards even money. However, as we put it on this time, LIBOR exploded higher. Specifically, the June contract rose quicker than we had anticipated and we took a fair amount of heat on the position. Thankfully, it has come back some, though this too looks to be a difficult trade going forward. Eerily similar to the Green Straddles.

Sept 9925/9950 put spreads:

As our June spreads get further out of the money {01.19.12} we've been actively looking for another insurance bet that allows us to trade some of our other products more aggressively. We settled on the Sept put spread for a couple of reasons that you've heard before. If we rip lower, it pays out 25 ticks, its pretty cheap 3.5 - 4.5, the decay on this spread is very small relavitve to the time frame. We've purchased this as our lotto ticket just in case any of these European Nations get froggy or PIIGiSh. Our average buy was 3.5 ticks vs Sept futures at 9955.

Longer term look outs:

• Really want to see the March '13-'14-'15 one year fly drift down towards -35. Don't necessarily want to be short here, but we'll be looking to accumulate a long position as we head down.
• Likewise with the Dec '13-'14-'15 one year fly, we feel that it is a short anywhere about -17.
• There seems to be a slight disconnect between what the Fed has been saying about the Fed Funds rate and where a couple of large players {presumably Brevan Howard} have been trading the futures. The current mandate is that there will be no change until mid 2014, however, starting in June 2013 and heading back there is a consistent trend of higher than average spreads. If the Fed doesn't move rates, through this period, there is a great opportunity to collect 'free money' by selling the June '13 at 9976.5 and buying the Jan '14 at 9963.5. You effectively "sell" each one month spread at 2 ticks if you look back to the front of the curve, these have all been exit-able around 0-.5 {some have traded as low as -1}. Not really advocating launching such spreads, BH isn't usually wrong. Just noting that there's a disconnect. Unfortunately, the locals in the FF's option pit wont make option markets out that far. So its futures or nothing.

Hope it helps. Fight the good fight.

~LH

Postitions

As usual the inventory continues to roll around and as always the hope is that this rolling comes laden with fat P and tiny L.

Fly update:
Sold entire core position of Dec '12 - '13 -'14 butterflies at an average price of -29, locking in a little better than 6 ticks of profit. Since that time, we've started to reaccumulate a small position AS LONG AS we're able to sell the Dec '13 - '14 -'15 fly as a package {1:1} for the price of -14 or better {eg buying -31's to sell -17's}. As I write this, that double fly is trading around -11.

Front Spreads:
We've completely rolled out of the March contract and unless something crazy happens {eg I get antsy and buy front month gamma} we don't anticipate getting back in. We're working to buy the June/Sept/Dec '12 fly for -1 or better. From our charting, it seems to have been tracking in fairly tight channel and buying -1s with the goal to add more at -2 fits our risk parameters. We'll have a soft-stop at -3.5 with an anticipated exit of positive 2.

Straddles:
As always, we continue to flip gamma around the March '14 9912.5 straddle that we're long. We will be looking for an opportunity to roll this to Green June shortly. Currently, we're short 30% of our deltas vs. 9918.

Put Spreads:
We've continued to hold our unhedged 91-93 put spread in June '12. Though it is under levels where we initially put it on, we have added to the position and it continues to be our 'insurance policy' in the event that all hell breaks loose around the Mediterranean Sea.

Outright Puts in the Fed Funds:
Interesting to note that within the last few days, a couple of major players have resurfaced looking to purchase downside protection. I mention this for a couple of reasons.

1. The Fed has proclaimed that they will not be moving rates until 'the latter part of 2014'. This is intriguing because the protection they're buying is for Feb of 2012.
2. The two firms doing the majority of the buying are JPM and Fimat. I can't speak with any definite authority as to who is behind these mega-houses, however in the past, Brevan Howard has always come through Fimat in the Fed Funds. He's been right more times than not and has fleeced the locals in that option pit countless times. Maybe he's back?
3. In our opinion, this is the type of trade that blows out traders. We've all heard the rhetoric about when the Fed will finally be moving rates and under that assumption you can safely sell every 9975 put to lower and collect your daily decay. However, the Fed is dynamic, and it wasn't more that 7 weeks ago that we were all clamoring for QE3. Now that stimulus is a distant memory and the we're headed to a S&P 1400 print...what's to say that we the rates don't start to get froggy sooner? Like 18 months sooner? Just a thought.

Trading size is always more fun, but so is being able to sleep at night.

~LH

Super Bowl

I had intended on getting this out on Saturday or even Sunday, but as usual, life got in the way. By life, I'm referring to a 2 hour trip to Costco, church, little people who want to wrestle, and 36 miles of running over a 36 hour span. Oh, then there was that part about the Super Bowl consuming ~4.5 hours of my life. By the time I actually got around to writing, my brain was fried and it was moved to today's agenda.

Friday was a fairly busy day. I don't really want to write about the legitimacy of the NFP data and whether you believe it or not. Rather, I'd prefer to focus on what happened in the products we watch and where we think the next few weeks will take us.

Let's talk Fed Funds. There was a noticeable volume spike heading in to the week's end. Where we are normally seeing 18-22K contracts a day, we suddenly saw a bounce up north of 50K. Obviously, customers wanted to move some of their inventory prior to the release on the Unemployment figures on Friday. On Thursday, prior to the data, a new customer came to buy 3000 of the July '12 -- Jan '13 future's spread. He started accumulating at a price 2 ticks and paid up to 2.5. We count spreads on an adjacent month basis. That is to say, that selling 100 N/F spreads actually resulted in selling 600 spreads {100 of each adjacent month NQ, QU, UV etc...}. At the time, 2s looked to be a decent sale. However, by the time the customer started lifting our 2.5s the trade no longer looked attractive as all the hedges has disappeared.

As the number hit the tape on Friday, the Funds sold off 1-2.5 ticks {which, if you're familiar with this product, is a substantial move}. Right on cue the customer was back to buy 1000 more spreads and though he was only 2.5 bid, we were sure that he'd need to step up and pay at least 3.5 in order to get filled. Hindsight trading says we should have unhitched the wagon and dumped every spread we had in our inventory at that moment. However, we didn't and within an hour or so, the Funds had rallied, the spreads had collapsed, that bid was long forgotten as the 1.5s began to trade in N/F. The turn had been subtle, but the force behind it showed that market participants still agreed that we're not going to see a Fed Funds rate change until 2014. We did well when viewing the traded for 50K feet, however, had we taken a more aggressive stance prior to Friday {which market participants did post-NFP} we would have locked in a great trade.

~LH

ReEngaging after a long drought

It's been a long time since I've sat to seriously write my trading thoughts. However, as the New Year approaches I once again feel the urge to type.

Realistically, it wont be a daily thing. To be honest, it will be whenever the inspiration strikes. My goal is to take the notebooks and post-its around my desk and turn them into coherent thoughts. I no longer have the privilege of sitting next to the Practical Thinker, but I'm still seated next to the fabulously brilliant Neapolitan Man and we're looking forward to bringing on one other individual to help with the increased bandwidth. I'll probably be the primary writer, but their ideas will greatly influence what gets put out here. 

We'll stick with what we believe we know best. Mainly Fed Fund and EuroDollar futures and options, as well as some yield curve materials. We haven't traded a yield curve product for at least a quarter if not two, but our goal is to add them back into the arsenal of toys. When our newest member Mr.PrD {Philosophical Rail Defender} joins us at the first of the year I expect that we'll add commentary in the FX and hard commodity {GLD/CL} areas.

In terms of updating what we have on for the last few weeks of December, don't let this disappoint you...we've got virtually nothing on. A few small scattered option trades here and there, a tiny FFs book, and a scant amount of ED 1x2 double flys. As the New Year rolls around, we'll be looking to build a position and running timeline to track our success and failure!

Closing Note:
I don't plan on pasting large amounts of non-original content on here any more. I'll use my Twitter account to repost articles that I find useful. Feel free to join along in the fun @LeftHash

~LH

Silence wasn't golden

In some respects, I find it very difficult to write after getting pounded. At other times, it's actually a stress-relieving endorphin that allows me to refocus my thinking.

To be blunt, some of our assumptions of the QE2 announcement and the subsequent market follow-through were just wrong.

I do want to update some of our larger trades now that we've had a rally, a pull-back, and rolled plenty of our inventory.

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In the 30 yr bonds:

We sold out of our longs in the 137 calls prior to the QE announcement.

In the March Euro Dollar:

We rolled our March 9925-9950 put spread out to the June 9925-9950 put spread. We executed near the highs of the move for a cost of 1 tick. This will provide us with 3 more months to catch the credit event we still believe is looming.

In the March and May trees:

We have covered the March and we're in the process of covering the May. We originally put the on for a credit to the 1 leg and we're now selling them for even money. This helped us finance our ED put spreads and we are actively looking for ways to get some more premium shipped in, ideally in the FFs.

The NOB is still at 25 year highs. The range on Wednesday was almost 2 points. {that's 64 ticks at a price of $156 per one lot} Though it settled off the highs, it was up over a point. At this point, we have no position on as we attempt to reload and find a position that will allow us the capture what we think is the impending flattening.

~LH

Get Long {might be wrong}

Our markets are slow and getting increasingly cheap. A few thousand contracts here and a few hundred over there is about all we're seeing these days. ED volume has fallen to new lows in total contracts traded. It's as if the world is in a post Thanksgiving induced coma. It has been fed cheap money in infinite amounts. Now as it lays and tries to digest everything, its being lulled to sleep in an environment of sinking volatility.

I'm seen this movie before, somehow it always ends in tragedy. {However, it is only painful if you are caught holding the potato when the music stops.}

Few of the things we would like to do.

1. ZH diagonals in the TY and US. I would like to grab some cheaper gamma and finance it by selling wings. Ideally, we would like to do this with puts. Our medium term outlook {3-6 months} is that we'll stay range bound in the yield curve with moderate moves within the range that will help you to finance your decay. {Z28p v H21p gives you positive 6.5 gamma for 2.75 ticks of decay a day}In the event of a credit meltdown, we suspect the bonds will go higher, making a short longer dated call a risk to your overall position.

2. In order to capture the 'cheapness' of implied risk, we think that you're best served putting on steepeners across products in FF v ED {sell the ED and buy the FF}. Of particular interest to us is the EDU v FFU. The spread between the two of them has recent traded at its low {28} and it provides a couple of plays as we go forward. a) if the world ever gets frightened by credit risk, European or American GDP, or some other nascent economics flag you'll most likely see the EDU react in a much more violent way then the FFU. b) under current decay models, the EDZ v FFZ is at 17 with a QE2 bump priced in. This means you have a pretty solid floor at -9, though we are looking at a stop around the 24 range and an anticipated exit at 40.

3. We still like being short the NOB. If you can stomach the stress, it has a long way to fall back towards reality.

~LH

Sizing up my opponent

Mid-September and I have plenty of irons in the fire. Yet the daily grind in the Fed Funds is slow and sometimes arduous.  The idea of growing our single accounts into a larger, more macro-focused trading vehicle has begun to effect my thoughts and the process by which I believe trade creation occurs. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote, "Nothing endures but change." {We often hear it translated just a bit differently as, "Change is the only constant."} My newer approach is to pull back from the one tree from which I'm picking apples and take a look around me to see if there is any low-hanging fruit on another trees nearby. Why strain for the next marginal piece of fruit in my tree when there is a perfectly good piece of easy fruit on the tree right next to you? All that to say, I want to expand the book and create a greater exposure and presence markets that relate to the FF.

I've been at this long enough to know that most of my trades don't just appear out of nothing. A majority are created out of a calculated premise, a lengthy discussion and the intangible of experience. However, if we are to aim towards a more macro goal, I think the process can shift to a round table conversation where we answer the following questions:

1. Where do I think we're going tomorrow in the products that we trade?
2. What is the best trade for tomorrow?
3. What is the best trade for the next few weeks {3-6}?
4. What is the best trade for the quarter?

 I don't necessarily have the answers to any {all} of those questions at any given point, but collectively the answers will emerge. What I've described is the goal. How we actually go about getting to that point; well that's the adventure.

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I want to shift gears a bit and just briefly lay out some of the trades we've been working on over the last few weeks and months.

• In the FF we've been selling the 87/93 call spreads in December and February. We've been able to collect between .75 and 1 tick {1 tick = $41.67} and though they aren't "make your month" trades, they do help us finance our other positions.
• We've sold the March 68/75/81 put tree {-1, -1, +1} and collected an average of 1 tick. This trade leaves us short two downside puts and long one put that is currently ATM. If nothing happens in the Fed's policies or rates for the next few months OR we move higher in price {lower yields} we will simply collect our tick and be done with it. If however, we start to move lower, we're long a put spread with 1 naked short put below. The break even for this trade is roughly 9961.
• We've also done the May 68/75/81 put tree as describe above. However, we were able to collect an average of 2.75 ticks to sell the two legs and buy the one. The thought process and the theoretical payout is very similar.
• We have purchased the EDH {March 11} 92/95 {9925/9950} put spread in the Euro Dollars. Partially as a hedge against our FF put trees and partly to allow some credit risk exposure. Our thinking was if another European nation even hints at some type of sovereign wealth issue, the ED will react much more violently than the FF. We paid an average of 4.5 ticks {1 tick = $25}. The maximum this trade is worth is 25 ticks {less entry costs} giving us a very nice 5x1 on our money if it hits.

As far as what is out there but not quite ripe enough to pick? I think that the NOB is getting very attractive as a short position. The yield curve has been pricing in some type of QE2 coming out of tomorrow's FOMC meeting just as they did back in August. However, I find it difficult to believe that they will announce any type of easing coming out of an FOMC meeting. Perhaps they tweak the language, but nothing more. The chart below shows the generic NOB contract as generated by the CME. From its last top to the most recent bottom was nearly 80 ticks. At $156 per tick, that's a profit of ~$6,000 per one lot. I'm not sure how to best capture the pricing currently in the market. My gut says to get long USX {30 year Nov} put spreads and sell TYX put spreads for near zero cash outlay.

 ~LH

Updating the MGC (Monday Great Calls)

Here's the update going into the PPI data tomorrow and Friday's CPI.

1. Closed out the UL vs TY spread at 120.21 and 117.205. This trade netted 1007 ticks ($31.468.75). In its place we've intiated a very basic NOB. Re-initiating, with the US 63 @ 116.27 and sold the TY -100 @ 117.205
2. Buy premium, the VIX is too low. (See SPU section #6)
3. Hold on Euro FX positions
4. Look to sell the AUD over .9050
5. Currently Long this U vs U spread and looking to sell 31s
6. Purchase the 1095 SPX straddle for 12.40. Look to hedge below 1085 and above 1115
7. Neutral. Flat CL after getting to the expected target.

 My gut says that the PPI & CPI data (Bloomberg Calendar) will be a complete duds and the overall market will slowly drift towards unchanged for the week.

LH

Monday Mornings are for Great Calls

Here's my play book for the week ahead. We're actually closed Monday so it will give you a bit of extra time to digest what you'd do with these.

Plays for the week:

1. Using the new Ultra Long Bond (UB), I would like to put on a BOB (UB vs US) vs a NOB (US vs TY). Broken down, the US portion actually cancles itself out and what you're left with is a Long UB position vs. a Short TY position. Here's the ratio used: +28 @ 121.25 UL and -130 @ 118.04 TY
2. The VIX is simply too high (currently 24.05). Expect the VIX to settle around 22.5 on 2/19/10
3. Euro Currency. The previous week has been a roller coaster and there is little doubt this will continue. It should stay between 1.3350 and 1.3850 as long as the Greeks keep up their end of the bargain (currently 1.3590).
4. The AUD is the personal favorite risk currency of my associate Practical Thinker (Mr. PT for short) and his call for this week is to remain between .8750 to .9050 (currently about .8840)
5. Expect the Eurodollar vs Fed Fund Sept 2010 ratio to remain in a very tight range of 31 to 32, buying dips and selling spikes (currently 31)
6. Expect the SPU to hang tight inbetween 1050 and 1090. However, a violation of the 1095 line will mean higher highs (currently 1073)
7. Finally, the Old Baron in our office has proclaimed that oil (CLH10) is a screaming buy and will settle on 2/19 right around 77.50. (it is ~$74)

This is the playbook. If this week somehow produces a market moving catalyst the play will be cover or take profits sooner than Friday. I don't anticipate any of these positions lasting for more than a week. My gut says the world is just a touch to dynamic.