James News

VIX on the Rise

Hello Traders,

VIX is finally working its way up and that is good news for 0DTE trades. This means that the expected move on the SPX is going to be higher. Which gives us better premiums and bigger swings through the day. And while this means different things to different people and strategies. We like it because it allows those who pick specific days to trade in order to utilize their 3 PTD trades to close and scrape for profit if they wish.

As Wall Street’s major market averages experienced a sell off on Friday, volatility levels spiked to their highest levels of the year. The S&P VIX Index (VIX) traded at 18.62 in mid-afternoon action after topping 19 earlier in the session.

On Friday afternoon, the VIX was up 22.3% on the day. This jump took the volatility index to its highest level since Oct. 31, 2023. The index is now up about 58% from its 52-week low of $11.81 reached in December.

The rise in market volatility has come along with a drop in the major equity averages, which sent the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite lower by 1.6% on Friday. At the same time, the benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow Jones were also lower on the session by 1.4% and 1.2%, respectively.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4089334-volatility-jumps-to-the-highest-level-of-2024-with-the-vix-tagging-192

Terry News

Fed Days

Many of my fellows ask me WHEN does the FOMC speak. Many of the FOMC members speak fairly often – so I thought I would post a link! https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/calendar.htm

Please check this link frequently – many of this days will sneak up on you, and being informed, as James often says, if you are not prepared, you are trading at a disadvantage. Let us know what other information would help you trade more effectively.

James News

Stock Market Holiday Schedule

Hello fellow Investfools, below is the holiday schedule for the Stock Market. Or better known as the days we cant make money.

All NYSE markets observe U.S. holidays as listed below for 2024, 2025, and 2026.

TRADING DAYS

Holiday202420252026
New Year’s DayMonday, January 1Wednesday, January 1Thursday, January 1
Martin Luther King, Jr. DayMonday, January 15Monday, January 20Monday, January 19
Presidents DayMonday, February 19Monday, February 17Monday, February 16
Good FridayFriday, March 29Friday, April 18Friday, April 3
Memorial DayMonday, May 27Monday, May 26Monday, May 25
Juneteenth National Independence DayWednesday, June 19Thursday, June 19Friday, June 19
Independence DayThursday, July 4*Friday, July 4*Friday, July 3 (Independence Day observed)
Labor DayMonday, September 2Monday, September 1Monday, September 7
Thanksgiving DayThursday, November 28**Thursday, November 27**Thursday, November 26**
Christmas DayWednesday, December 25***Thursday, December 25***Friday, December 25***

* Each market will close early at 1:00 p.m. (1:15 p.m. for eligible options) on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, and Thursday, July 3, 2025. NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE Chicago, and NYSE National late trading sessions will close at 5:00 p.m. All times are Eastern Time.

** Each market will close early at 1:00 p.m. (1:15 p.m. for eligible options) on Friday, November 29, 2024, Friday, November 28, 2025, and Friday, November 27, 2026 (the day after Thanksgiving). NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE Chicago, and NYSE National late trading sessions will close at 5:00 p.m. All times are Eastern Time.

*** Each market will close early at 1:00 p.m. (1:15 p.m. for eligible options) on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Thursday, December 24, 2026. NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE Chicago, and NYSE National late trading sessions will close at 5:00 p.m. All times are Eastern Time.

https://www.nyse.com/markets/hours-calendars

James News

Options trading volume continues to rise

Washington, DC — FIA released statistics on the number of futures and options traded on exchanges worldwide in 2023.  

The total volume of trading reached 137.3 billion contracts in 2023, up 64% from the previous year. This was the sixth consecutive year of record-setting trading activity in the global listed derivatives markets.  

Trading volume in most parts of the world grew only slightly compared to the previous year. The exception was India, which saw an extraordinarily rapid growth in the trading of equity index options.  

The number of equity index options traded on Indian exchanges reached 84.3 billion contracts in 2023, up 153% from 2022. That helped push the total number of options traded worldwide to 108.2 billion in 2023, up 98% from the previous year.   

Total futures volume was 29.1 billion contracts, roughly the same as the previous year. Increases in futures trading in China and the UK offset declines in Brazil and Turkey.  

Open interest, which measures the number of outstanding contracts at a point in time, stood at a record level of 1.25 billion contracts at year-end, up 15% at year-end 2022. Open interest in options rose 18% to 955 million contracts, and open interest in futures rose 8% to 298 million contracts.  

FIA’s statistics on volume and open interest are collected from 89 exchanges and clearinghouses operated by 54 companies in 34 countries. The statistics are based on the number of contracts traded and/or cleared on these exchanges and clearinghouses and are adjusted to avoid double counting. 

Strictly CBOE US Options

  • Total volume across Cboe’s four options exchanges was 3.7 billion contracts in 2023, the fourth consecutive record-breaking year
  • Total options Average Daily Volume (ADV) reached an all-time high of 14.6 million contracts traded per day in 2023
  • Cboe’s proprietary product suite set several volume records for the year, including:
    • S&P 500 Index (SPX) options traded a total of 729.3 million contracts, with an ADV of 2.9 million contracts
    • Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) options traded a total of 185.7 million contracts, with an ADV of 743 thousand contracts
  • Trading in SPX options set a new single-day volume record on December 14, 2023 with 4.8 million contracts traded

https://www.fia.org/fia/articles/global-futures-and-options-volume-hits-record-137-billion-contracts-2023

https://ir.cboe.com/news/news-details/2024/Cboe-GLOBAL-MARKETS-REPORTS-TRADING-VOLUME-FOR-DECEMBER-AND-FULL-YEAR-2023/default.aspx

Terry News

Off the starting block in January

The U.S. stock market closed sharply lower on January 4, 2024, following the release of the Federal Reserve’s December FOMC meeting minutes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.1% due to weak performances by large-cap technology stocks. The S&P 500 also declined by 0.8%. This downturn was influenced by concerns over the timing of the first interest rate cut and mixed economic data. Additionally, manufacturing activities showed contraction for the 14th consecutive month. Investors were particularly affected by the uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve’s future interest rate cuts​​.