I was reading this article awhile ago:
Market collapse in process? Billionaires continue to dump U.S. stocks, traders are betting against U.S. economy
... and the following paragraphs caught my attention:
It reminded me of the remark about a "Drop dead date" that is mentioned in the following sessions:
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,20280.msg203409.html#msg203409
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,20281.msg203416.html#msg203416
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,18669.msg176501.html#msg176501
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,18668.msg176486.html#msg176486
One wonders just what is up?
Market collapse in process? Billionaires continue to dump U.S. stocks, traders are betting against U.S. economy
... and the following paragraphs caught my attention:
Something happened this week that brings back haunting memories of the 2001 put options of airline stocks, except this "bet" is against the entire U.S. economy. This week, an anonymous trader bought 100,000 put options on the ETF, which is an acronym for an exchange-traded fund. One commonly traded ETF is XLF, which, in the most unscientific and basic terms, is a group of funds that is like a barometer for the stock market.
Now, such trades involving ETF-XLF are common, except when the put options (bets that the value of an asset is going to go down) are so large and so significant that they scream of insider knowledge with big flashing lights and arrows. This is one of those. In this case, it is a bet against the stock market, although this is admittedly a rather oversimplified explanation - but you get the idea.
According to professionals who watch this activity for a living, normal single trades involve maybe 500 contracts at most. That's why certain professionals took notice of an order this week of 100,000 put options, or 200 times the high trade volume of 500. It become even more curious when one considers that the trader is "betting" that the market will take a significant hit by the end of April. (The put options are dated for April 20 and 25, 2013, right around Hitler's birthday, for those of you who follow things like that.
It reminded me of the remark about a "Drop dead date" that is mentioned in the following sessions:
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,20280.msg203409.html#msg203409
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,20281.msg203416.html#msg203416
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,18669.msg176501.html#msg176501
http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,18668.msg176486.html#msg176486
One wonders just what is up?