Risk on, Risk Off Volatility Trading Strategies to Enhance Portfolio Performance

The essential pre-entry guide to volatility trading, from the top market expert Risk On, Risk Off shows active traders how to profit from the profusion of new volatility-based products. Leading expert Michael McCarty provides in-depth explanation of poorly understood aspects of volatility-based instruments, showing you how they can be used to forecast markets, trade, and hedge. Coverage includes details on both new and traditional measures of volatility, the structure and mechanics of new volatility tools, and how market participants at different levels can use these tools to invest more effectively. By combining historical data with analysis, this book outlines a taxonomy of how volatility measures provide clues to coming market behavior, and provides a detailed dissection of how these new instruments work. You will gain the insight they need to use these tools confidently and avoid unexpected outcomes. At the end of 2010, the market experienced a flood of Exchange Traded Funds and Exchange Traded Notes. Today, there are at least thirteen Exchange Traded Products with over $2 billion in assets, and similar products are being developed in other major asset classes. This book discusses how these new products can lead to profit, and why money managers should start hedging volatility risk. Learn how volatility measures reflect market sentiment and directional bias Understand how VIX options, futures, and exchange-traded notes work Analyze the brief history of trading volatility-based instruments Smooth returns at any level of market participation Trading and hedging volatility is an increasingly important topic in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and the market for trading volatility as an asset is growing rapidly and regularly setting new daily volume trading records. For the active trader looking to enter the volatility markets, Risk On, Risk Off provides essential information from the leading volatility expert.