In case you wonder, no I didn’t just pull that one out of my rectum, and yes it’s a real thing. In fact vomma is officially listed as one of the option greeks (check it out over on Investopedia). And it also happens to be one of the more exotic indicators of implied volatility that is very carefully monitored by professional option traders. And let me assure you that they are ALL keeping a very close eye on it this very week. But why?
The implied volatility Z-score is a way of framing implied volatility in context. For example, today SPY closed up 0.35%, which is decent but nothing compared with some of the candles over the past few months. But how normal or abnormal is it? We don’t know unless we’re able to put it in context.
Rumor has it U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin wants a stable Dollar and that protecting its status as a reserve currency allegedly is the goal of the Trump administration. Unfortunately it appears that Mr. Mnuchin’s definition of ‘stable’ differs significantly from mine as the DXY has effectively entered a state of freefall over the past week.
Since Monday equities have literally run a grand tour on our weekly expected move scale. With one session remaining the big question for most professional option traders today is whether or not we’re going to remain in range or if we’re going to close the week outside. The reason for that may not be apparent to most retail traders, so let me enlighten you.