How to Properly Knife Catch Visa

• stevenplace
• December 17th, 2010

Too many traders are trying to load up on calls on V as the news-risk permeates the market structure. If you haven’t yet heard, there’s some fed voodoo with respect to debit card transactions that absolutely poleaxed V and MA yesterday.

So you want to get long but don’t know how to structure your risk? Well, that’s where I come in.

A simple trade here is to buy the Jan 65 straddle for about 8.50. Doing 10 of them puts your max risk at $8500, and will have a delta of nearly +400. The good thing here is if V actually does go lower, you’ll lose money but not as much as if you had just got long the stock. Because the lower V goes, the higher the IV pump will be primed, which will benefit your long volatility position. And if it actually goes to 65, it’ll most likely break down and then you’ll be net short on the play.

More sophisticated techniques include trading stock around the position (known as gamma scalping) as well as buying stock + put overbuys.

The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.

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