Looks like the trade might've happened around 10:50 AM based on the volume spike and the traded prices on options. I'm really interested in finding out whether the bids or the offers were taken out (I'm thinking bids, contrary to Atticus's assertion, but what do I know?). http://finance.yahoo.com/charts#cha...ine;crosshair=on;logscale=on;source=undefined
these trades had to have been pre-arranged between the counter parties. NO market makers are showing markets with that size in the SPY options.
<i>"Anybody remembers what happened to index options right before Greenspan suddenly cut 50 bps during the RTH in 2001?"</i> I remember the April cut very well. At the time I was still trading SPX options long and short, didn't switch to eminis until mid-2002. Had three major strikes (x25 divisor) SPX option calls and puts T&S charts on screen at all times, filtered for trades of 100 contracts minimum to watch big-money in action. Out of the blue, call option volume blew off the scale... 100 to 500 lot SPX option blocks were streaming off the scale. Act first, ask questions later when something like that is witnessed. I was long five slightly OTM calls from 2,000ish per off the open, added five more at 1,700+ to hold ten lot trade. Mere minutes later, the chart blew sky high and those contracts at blended average of 18+ were trading 52s in a heartbeat. I dumped into the vol explosion before the tape came back to earth. * That was also before big players worked the ES hard. Now those block trades don't show up clearly like they once did. Factor out the obvious spreads, and it was pretty transparent when the big guns were playing insider knowledge. Who here asked if the markets are rigged? Of course they are! That's all part of this game :eek:
I have no idea. It was an arb for the floor, so it was obviously intended to support the market. I can't arrive at any other logical conclusion. The trades are nonsensical, which leads me to believe it's govt-intervention.
Thanks for sharing your firsthand experience. It's nice to hear it from a trader I respect on this board .
<i>"Thanks for sharing your firsthand experience. It's nice to hear it from a trader I respect on this board"</i> Pay attention to what Atticus has to say about options. I've been out of that game for five years now. He's right about the OI part and no visibility on CBOE.com as well. Bottomless pockets are often at work in the leveraged derivatives, options & futures alike. But, that Plunge Protection Team doesn't exist... it's all just a myth. No connection to why the markets ramped in the final hour Thursday before last bigger than any session (except one day in late July 2002) right in front of the Fed's faux cut on Friday. Just lucky timing on someone's part, that's all
PPT and big money insider trading whats all this about the playing field is about as level as the Rocky mountains. "There s no such thing as manipulation" ... What you all expect after this months swings. I am just gonno ride it out and dump it on the top. Good psot Nice thread and info. Akuma
ah, but you do not know if they were buying the 10,000 (hoping SPY rises) or writing the option (hoping SPY tanks)...SO, bottomline, one does no thave a clue if the 10,000 represents a bearish or bullish sentiment...sorry, wish it was this easy
I never follow the SPY but just happened to look at Yahoo options page in it the other day and didn't see that 10k. Then later they showed... Is everyone here certain that it is not just a Yahoo screw-up?