Can´t remember last time I had so many put options in my book, kind of overloaded ....see, I have to do what Goldman Sachs is telling me and every single day they conjure up a new downgrade for whatsoever named bank X,Y,Z...bank X downgraded because of subprime exposure X bn, bank Y downgraded because of suprime exposure Y bn...bla, bla, bla....but well, here we go....lots of VOLA and menue a la carte...short, long, naked short, straddles, strangles, flies, butterflies, married puts, spreads, condor spreads, bears spreads, bull spreads, ratio call writes, knock-outs, knock-ins....I have so many ideas, I can´t even grasp all the opportunites for a moment...plenty of them in all markets....currencies, indices, single stocks, bonds, commodities... in one single expression : GREAT VOLA !
As far as I am informed no LEAPS on DAX available, but in Germany people are using kind of "open end short certificates" to hedge or speculate on falling DAX... Maybe this site is helpful : www.goldman-sachs.de
By the way, some very *encouraging* news from our "friendly neighbourhood" investmentbank Goldman Sachs : Goldman ups U.S. '08 recession probability to 43% from 30% Goldman Sachs economists on Tuesday said they now expect the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee to cut interest rates to 3% by mid-2008, down from its earlier forecast of 4%. "The main reason is that the worsening housing downturn has pushed the risk of a U.S. recession in 2008 to 40%-45%, from around 30% previously.