A wide range of research has suggested that informed trading in options markets may effectively signal subsequent changes in equity prices. In this paper, we analyze the performance of long/short strategies based on a number of signals from options markets.In addition, we create an easily...

The data dependency of empirical financial research is of common concern to both academics and practitioners. This is especially true for hedge funds since no one single commonly accepted database exists and since many of the databases may hold different sets of reporting managers. Each database...

The hedge funds industry has evolved tremendously in recent years. According to the CASAM CISDM Industry Report, assets under management in hedge funds had grown from less than USD 50 billion at the end of 1990 to over USD 2.1 trillion at the end of 2007. However, assets managed by hedge funds...

It is well established that the VIX Index tends to be negatively correlated with equity markets. This suggests that VIX futures and options may have the potential to provide significant diversification benefits for traditional portfolios. However, since the term structure of VIX futures is...

The term structure of VIX futures is generally upward sloping. The persistent VIX contango may result in abnormally strong performance for VIX futures selling or VIX call writing strategies. However, the high volatility of volatility and significant jump risk may expose short uncovered VIX...

Mutual fund managers may implement a variety of trading strategies using exchange-traded equity and equity index options. These strategies predominately include covered calls, where call options are sold against long positions, and put writes, where put options are sold against cash collateral....