Head of Research and Global Chief Strategist, Steno Research

Andreas Steno

Head of Research and Global Chief Strategist

Macro and Geopolitical Research House

Steno Research

Steno Research is a new macro and geopolitical research house. We are based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, but have an international team and a strong network of sources and partners around the world. The team is lead by Andreas Steno, previous global head of strategy at Nordea Bank, and Mikkel Rosenvold, former chief consultant in the Danish Ministry of Finance.

Macroeconomics

<ul><li>Happy Thursday, and welcome to our weekly positioning watch, brought to you just before the crucial NFP report tomorrow.</li><li>From what we see across markets, it looks like participants are starting to take risk off the table in equity space ahead of the report.</li><li>Markets have struggled this week to settle on a clear narrative for USD assets, especially USD rates.</li></ul>

Happy Thursday, and welcome to our weekly positioning watch, brought to you just before the crucial NFP report tomorrow.From what we see across markets, it looks like participants are starting to take risk off the table in equity space ahead of the report.Markets have struggled this week to settle on a clear narrative for USD assets, especially USD rates.

Positioning Watch – Markets have NOT been Ready for Growth to Weaken in the US

Derivatives and Quantitative Strategist

Gaudenz Schneider

Equity Derivatives

Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI 200 / Equity Derivatives

<ul>
<li>The <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/korea-stock-exchange-kospi-200" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26021:1" rel="noopener">KOSPI 200</a> is in a steady bear market with political turmoil further depressing the outlook. Volatility increased in the near term, leading to an inverted term structure.</li>
<li>The <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nifty-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:23617:1" rel="noopener">Nifty 50</a> is approaching its 50-day average from below. Call options profit from low implied volatility and present an attractive opportunity to profit on the upside.</li>
<li>The <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-hang-seng-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22899:1" rel="noopener">Hang Seng</a> continues to stand out as the index with positive correlation between implied volatility and index performance. Interestingly, the relationship is not symmetric between up- and down moves.</li>
</ul>


The KOSPI 200 is in a steady bear market with political turmoil further depressing the outlook. Volatility increased in the near term, leading to an inverted term structure.
The Nifty 50 is approaching its 50-day average from below. Call options profit from low implied volatility and present an attractive opportunity to profit on the upside.
The Hang Seng continues to stand out as the index with positive correlation between implied volatility and index performance. Interestingly, the relationship is not symmetric between up- and down moves.


EQD | Global Option Implied Volatility - Kospi 200, Hang Seng, Nifty 50

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>Our outlook remains bullish and the significant end-of-year rally that we have been expecting since mid-October is in progress.</li>
<li>There is little to do besides continue to ride the trend higher following our 11/5/24 and 11/19/24 Compass reports which both had "Buy the Pullback" in the title</li>
<li>We also continue to expect to see support at the 20-day MAs on the Russell 2000 (IWM), S&amp;P 500, and Nasdaq 100 (QQQ)</li>
</ul>


Our outlook remains bullish and the significant end-of-year rally that we have been expecting since mid-October is in progress.
There is little to do besides continue to ride the trend higher following our 11/5/24 and 11/19/24 Compass reports which both had "Buy the Pullback" in the title
We also continue to expect to see support at the 20-day MAs on the Russell 2000 (IWM), S&amp;P 500, and Nasdaq 100 (QQQ)


Improving Market Dynamics; Outlook Remains Bullish; MSCI EAFE, ACWI Ex-US, Europe to Join the Party?

Equity Derivatives and Volatility Specialist, Clifton Derivatives

John Ley

Equity Derivatives and Volatility Specialist

Clifton Derivatives

Independent derivative and volatility research firm focusing on events/catalysts, earnings, relative value and cross asset volatility strategies.

<ul>
<li>We introduce a new section this month showing implied vol vs average absolute December price movement. A good way to screen for straddle candidates for the month ahead.</li>
<li>Implied vols came in hard in November with the US election and the FOMC in the rear-view mirror.</li>
<li>Price performance across markets especially strong in the final week of the month with SP500, Nifty and SPASX200 postive on the month ~ 70% of the time. </li>
</ul>


We introduce a new section this month showing implied vol vs average absolute December price movement. A good way to screen for straddle candidates for the month ahead.
Implied vols came in hard in November with the US election and the FOMC in the rear-view mirror.
Price performance across markets especially strong in the final week of the month with SP500, Nifty and SPASX200 postive on the month ~ 70% of the time. 


EQD | Asia December Vol Roadmap - The Big Exhale

<ul>
<li>The US post-election rally lifted markets which run a trade deficit with the US alongside US markets. In that period, volatility decreased in all markets, regardless of performance.</li>
<li>Market Specific commentary and option opportunities for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nifty-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:23617:1" rel="noopener">NIFTY Index (NIFTY INDEX)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/s-p-asx-200" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22901:1" rel="noopener">S&amp;P/ASX 200 (AS51 INDEX)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nikkei-225" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22909:1" rel="noopener">Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nasdaq-100-stock-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26197:1" rel="noopener">Nasdaq-100 (NDX INDEX)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/s-p-500-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22886:1" rel="noopener">S&amp;P 500 (SPX INDEX),</a> and more.</li>
<li>Volatility analytics plus upcoming events and market holidays to the end of January as reference data.</li>
</ul>


The US post-election rally lifted markets which run a trade deficit with the US alongside US markets. In that period, volatility decreased in all markets, regardless of performance.
Market Specific commentary and option opportunities for NIFTY Index (NIFTY INDEX), S&amp;P/ASX 200 (AS51 INDEX), Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX), Nasdaq-100 (NDX INDEX), S&amp;P 500 (SPX INDEX), and more.
Volatility analytics plus upcoming events and market holidays to the end of January as reference data.


EQD | Global Option Implied Volatility - Opportunities in Nifty 50, Nasdaq, ASX 200, FTSE 100, SMI

United States

The S&P 500® is widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities and serves as the foundation for a wide range of investment products. The index includes 500 leading companies and captures approximately 80% coverage of available market capitalization.

S&P 500 INDEX (SPX INDEX)

Positioning Watch – Markets have NOT been Ready for Growth to Weaken in the US

Happy Thursday, and welcome to our weekly positioning watch, brought to you just before the crucial NFP report tomorrow. From what we see across...

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EQD | Global Option Implied Volatility - Kospi 200, Hang Seng, Nifty 50

Option strategies with a focus on Asia. The Kospi 200 in a bear market amid political turmoil. Nifty 50 approaching its 50-day average in a bullish...

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Vermilion Research

EQD | Asia December Vol Roadmap - The Big Exhale

New section introduced to compare implied volatility with average price movement in December, useful for identifying straddle candidates. Implied...

John Ley

EQD | Global Option Implied Volatility - Opportunities in Nifty 50, Nasdaq, ASX 200, FTSE 100, SMI

US post-election rally lowers implied volatility across all markets. Specific commentary on NIFTY, S&P/ASX 200, Nikkei 225, Nasdaq-100, S&P 500....

Gaudenz Schneider

Positioning Watch – Markets have NOT been Ready for Growth to Weaken in the US

Happy Thursday, and welcome to our weekly positioning watch, brought to you just before the crucial NFP report tomorrow. From what we see across...

Steno Research

EQD | Global Option Implied Volatility - Kospi 200, Hang Seng, Nifty 50

Option strategies with a focus on Asia. The Kospi 200 in a bear market amid political turmoil. Nifty 50 approaching its 50-day average in a bullish...

Gaudenz Schneider

Improving Market Dynamics; Outlook Remains Bullish; MSCI EAFE, ACWI Ex-US, Europe to Join the Party?

Improving Market Dynamics; Outlook Remains Bullish $SPX $IWM $QQQ; MSCI EAFE $EFA, ACWI ex-US $ACWX, and Europe $HEDJ $FEZ to Join the Party?...

Vermilion Research

EQD | Asia December Vol Roadmap - The Big Exhale

​New section introduced to compare implied volatility with average price movement in December, useful for identifying straddle candidates. Implied...

John Ley

EQD | Global Option Implied Volatility - Opportunities in Nifty 50, Nasdaq, ASX 200, FTSE 100, SMI

​US post-election rally lowers implied volatility across all markets. Specific commentary on NIFTY, S&P/ASX 200, Nikkei 225, Nasdaq-100, S&P 500....

Gaudenz Schneider

New section introduced to compare implied volatility with average price movement in December, useful for identifying straddle candidates. Implied...

US post-election rally lowers implied volatility across all markets. Specific commentary on NIFTY, S&P/ASX 200, Nikkei 225, Nasdaq-100, S&P 500....