We find that the demand for stock option positions that increase exposure to the underlying is positively related to measures of investor sentiment and past market returns, while the demand for index options is invariant to these factors. These differences in trading patterns are reflected in...

Using CFTC's COT data, both GARCH and PARCH volatility based models found the lagged volatility and news about volatility from the previous month to be significant in explaining large hedgers' and speculators' volatility. The greater reliance on the ARCH term for speculators' suggested their...

Created in 2009, bitcoin reaches record heights every week, having hit $17,000 on 11 December 2017 - the first day a bitcoin futures contract traded at the CBOE - versus $1,000 in early 2017 and $1 in 2001. Yet there is still no consensus among economists whether bitcoin comprises a new...