Volatility Views 331: The Winners of the Great Crystal Ball Contest

Volatility Review: A look back at the week from a volatility perspective. VIX Cash - 19.4, almost unchanged from two week ago VIX - 94, 12-points lower than last show VIX Options - ADV: 546k, Total 6.77m (4.81m Calls, 1.95m Puts) VXX - 35.5, 1-point lower than last show Crypto crushed below $4k recently Volatility Voicemail: Options question of the week: AAPL continues to take a beating - recently dropping below $175. We know many of you LOVE to trade $AAPL and this selloff creates opportunities. Looking ahead to Jan 2019 expiration- which trade would you prefer to make in $AAPL right now? Sell Jan 150P for $1.65 Buy Jan 150P for $1.65 Sell Jan 200C for $1 Buy Jan 200C for $1 Listener questions and comments Comment from Pete Yarbro - I'd sell this strangle. Question from EELC5 - What's the lowest volatility can get in the SPX? Comment from Nilai - I like Mark's idea for an erosionator in VXX. Would be something interesting to watch. Kind of like a smog report or tide report but for VXX. Crystal Ball: Wild and reckless prognostication. Two weeks ago we asked people to guess where VIX would close on 11/30 by the end of the show. Answer: 18.80 Mark L.: 18.15 Mark S.: 15.25 R Ray: 19.70 -.9 Richie Rich: 17.1 Alex P: 17.50 William Valentine: I'm going with 16-ish. (I'll define the margin of -ish next Friday). Ophir Gottlieb: 19.23 - Vol is too cheap for a number of names and buying one-two day straddles is printing money. This is one of the best trading environments for vol in 5 years. MRTOPTICK: 19.87 Neil Wales: 18.1 - .7 ConTango: 15.09 Andrew Giovinazzi: 15.91 David Lincoln: 16.50 Jim Carroll: I'll take 14.90 cuz bears will take a break before they try again...Just wanted to take the under! Come at me!!!!!! Matt Thompson, CFA: 18.71056 Cmcapone: Kind of late, but for the 11/30 prognostication contest, put me down for 18.80. This week: Mark L. - 17.15 Mark S. - 16.35