Download PDF USA Overall US equities rallied, propelled by the softer than expected CPI print for the month of October that came out on Tuesday. All major US indices registered a third consecutive week of gains, with the S&P 500 up 2.24%, with Energy as the biggest percentage gainer among Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Commodity Swaps are a widely used instrument for hedging and speculation in the commodities markets. Like other swaps, they are an OTC instrument where two counterparties agree on exchanging some cashflows based on the trend of an underlying security (most often oil, but also other commodities like Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Structured financial products are complex and customized financial instruments that combine traditional assets with derivatives. They are designed to meet the specific needs and preferences of investors who are not satisfied with the conventional financial products available in the market. Structured financial products can offer various benefits, Read more…
Download PDF Introduction There is empirical evidence that index options, especially puts, are overpriced relative to individual stock options. Dispersion trading is a strategy aimed to capitalize from this mispricing. The aim of this article is to explore whether dispersion trading can still generate positive returns, but to generate a Read more…
Download PDF Introduction: Rebalance Timing Luck Every trading strategy has some turnover in its portfolio constituents; otherwise, it would simply be a buy-and-hold strategy. Equally, every index has some periodical rebalancing (and turnover) in its constituents. Often, the point in time at which this reshuffling of the portfolio takes place Read more…
Download PDF USA All three US equity indexes ended the week on a high note, mainly driven by semiconductor and other tech stocks. Namely, Nasdaq recorded its best day since May 26th rising 2.37% driven by the big tech stocks: Apple, Microsoft and Meta Platforms rose 2.3%, 2.5% and 2.6%. Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Headlines over the last few months have been constantly showing investors and economists discussing the various “landing” narratives for the US economy. With many arguing for a soft-landing scenario, while others remained more skeptical. At its core, this debate revolves around a critical question: “What are the Read more…
Download PDF An Introduction to Momentum Strategies In this article we aim to develop a cross-sectional option returns momentum strategy in which we trade the best performing options based on their past returns. This strategy aims to capture both movement in the underlying stock as well as different movements in Read more…
Download PDF USA All major stock indexes in the US have witnessed an impressive performance this week, with many analysts attributing this to a seasonal “Santa Rally”. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq recorded their best week since November 2022, advancing 5.85% and 6.61%. Similarly, the Dow Jones has increased Read more…
Download PDF Introduction On Friday October 13th, Cboe (Chicago Boards of Exchanges) officially launched four new volatility credit indices. In the current high interest rate environment, investors are becoming increasingly wary of the aggregated impact of high rates on highly levered balance sheet, thus increasing the relevance of the new Read more…
Download PDF Introduction During the last months, and especially from September, long-duration bonds experienced a dramatic sell-off, which pushed yields to historically elevated levels: U.S. long-term interest rates reached the highest level since 2007, while European bonds have not been so attractive since the Euro sovereign debt crisis in 2012. Read more…
Download PDF USA This week in the US, we observed a market recovery following the previous week’s declines, driven largely by the robust Non-Farm Payrolls data. However, by the week’s conclusion, this optimism had waned somewhat, with the S&P managing only a modest 0.4% increase. Leading the way was the Read more…
Download PDF US The week in the US markets was marked by choppy trading, with most indices being down during the week but recuperating their losses during the Friday rally. The S&P ended its longest weekly losing streak of the year by closing at +0.48%, the Nasdaq and the Russell Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The idea behind capital structure arbitrage is that the market pricing of equity and debt can diverge away from equilibrium, which might be because different types of investors are active in each market, and they possibly have different opinions about the prospects of a company. Therefore, capital Read more…
Download PDF An Introduction to the Dairy Industry The dairy industry’s global value in 2022 was around $893 billion and is projected to grow $1243 billion by 2028 having witnessed strong growth in the past years with a strong likelihood for that momentum to continue. It is currently facing some Read more…