New Options Join Successful VIX Options, Expanding CBOE's Suite Of Volatility Products CHICAGO, September 26, 2007 - The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) will begin trading options on the CBOE Nasdaq-100 Volatility Index (ticker symbol VXN) and the CBOE Russell 2000 Volatility Index (ticker symbol RVX) tomorrow, Thursday, September 27, 2007, under licensing agreements with The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. and The Russell Investment Group. These two new contracts expand the suite of volatility products offered exclusively at CBOE and the CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE). CBOE will now offer options on three of CBOE's volatility benchmarks, as VXN and RVX options will join the popular CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) options. Since their launch in February 2006, VIX options have already traded over twenty million contracts, making VIX options the most successful new product launch in CBOE history.
One of the questions I get most from clients is how to generate yield when the Fed is on hold with rates at zero. For a while many defensive clients were content receiving their 3% annual yield from Treasury bonds, but the Fed’s most recent meeting minutes shows that the Fed’s pace of bond buying may soon slow. While I do not think tapering is likely before year end (unless economic data accelerates significantly) the bond market is forward looking and already beginning to price tapering in. Smaller Fed purchases of Treasury bonds will mean that bond yields go up and bond prices go down. Bonds have been in a multi-year bull market, and we may now be on the cusp of a multi-year bear market. The most important indicator to watch is the 10-year yield, which cracked the 2.10% level this week for the first time in a year. If we continue to hold above 2.05% in June, the top is likely in for bonds and borrowing rates will be on the rise for everyone, including the US Treasury. So, how am ...
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