Steve Sosnick: Options – Volatility, Valuations, & Trading Tactics

Steve Sosnick is now Chief Strategist at Interactive Brokers, which entails writing about and talking about key developments in financial markets. But his options market experience spans decades, with stints in risk management, market making, trading model development and optimization, and prop trading. In this eye-opening MoneyShow MoneyMasters Podcast episode, he draws on those experiences to provide critical insights about the current market environment – and how traders and investors can best navigate it.

We start by discussing Steve’s history in the options market, and how he transitioned from an in-the-trenches to public-facing role at what is now called Interactive Brokers. Next, he shares his observations about this market – including what’s causing it to “slouch”...why for some time it has been “going up because it’s going up”...and how the only debate left is whether stocks are “phenomenally expensive, bubbleicious expensive, or just plain old expensive.” That said, Steve characterizes himself as more cautious than fearful – and advocates INSURING against the tape rather than FIGHTING it.

We move on to discuss how to accomplish that, including one simple step you can take – and a more involved strategy that uses options. Regarding the latter, Steve says that once you figure out how much “insurance” you need, you should consider a couple of different tactics to combat time decay, sidestep the need for constant re-hedging, and otherwise avoid being “pushed into a decision” by market developments. We end with a discussion of what else Steve will cover at the 2024 MoneyShow/TradersEXPO Las Vegas, scheduled for Feb. 17-19 at the Paris Las Vegas. Click here to register: https://www.lasvegasmoneyshow.com/?scode=061246