Mystery trader known as '50 Cent' made $21 million from last Thursday's stock market meltdown http://www.businessinsider.com/vix-...-21-million-from-stock-market-meltdown-2017-8
sure but there is no way to predict the NK situation at that point. this is what we adequately call a fluke.
"This is not to say 50 Cent is rolling in the dough. That prolonged period of calm leading up to Thursday's fireworks has still drained the volatility enthusiast's wallet to the tune of a $150 million loss year-to-date." Most important point to take from the entire article: betting on volatility spikes and/or buying calls is foolishness. Much better to sell options AFTER the volatility spike.
What is the people's (and therefore the media) obsession with this loser (at least from these trades) ? Down 150m YTD, makes open gains of 21m, which most of it is given back now, maybe even losses as doubled in reinvested - and this becomes news.. This is just as likely to be a hedge that they did NOT wish to turn profitable, but of course sheeps only like to calculate on the most recent profit and focus on that only.