Exploring Zero DTE Options and Selling Vega for Long-term Equity Volatility

Welcome to a special retrospective edition of the Alpha Exchange, narrated by yours truly. I’m a big fan of consequential events in market history as they provide a great opportunity to learn about the conditions under which asset prices can become unruly.

Are there commonalities in these episodes that might allow us to develop a roadmap for why, how and when they might occur?  From a risk management perspective, what are the key lessons of vol events?

In this context, it’s difficult not to reflect on the nearly unmanageable unwind of Long Term Capital that occurred 25 years ago. Over the next 50 minutes or so, I set out to take you through some of this important event from my own perspective and along the way bring in insights shared by guests of our podcast. I hope you enjoy it.