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...attempts to predict the volatility of the S&P 500 index over the next 30 trading days using options data from the index's 500 underlying stocks. Specifically, the VIX is a weighted average of the implied volatilities from a large basket of options. That may sound like an indecipherable description, but it basically means that it's a cumulative index of uncertainty. Of course, it only makes full sense if you know a bit about option pricing...
...there's a twist: As the stock market falls, investors tend to buy put options in order to hedge against falling prices. As the price of put options increases, the implied volatility of those options increases, and so does the VIX. However, if the S&P 500 had moved in the exact opposite direction this year, the VIX would not have been as high even though the S&P 500's actual, realized volatility would have been identical. Volatility is symmetric to market rises and falls, but the VIX is not. Reason: A falling market scares traders into buying...
...fifth in the nation). A variety of skill and experience levels were on display. While some competitors showed off consummate slicing and dicing skills, others more closely resembled two-year-olds with sticks. While some may describe fencing as a challenging mix between intricate strategy and mind games, Arnold P. Behrer ’09, competitor for Eliot House and fencing neophyte, took a slightly less complicated approach. “I’m just going out there and poking at the guy,” he said. “I’m pretty sure some...
...While proposed solutions help fix conflicts of interest, more inevitably arise. A simple alternative would be to return to the “investor-paid” model that rating agencies followed pre-1968, when S&P began charging issuers for ratings, in addition to the subscription fee they had always collected from investors who used the ratings. Yet, as many firms argue—both in 1968 and in recent months, when the model has again been proposed as a viable solution—relying solely on a subscription service does not bring in enough revenue to allow rating...
...ratings to enable analysis rather than be ends in themselves. Nonetheless, by 1970, when the firm switched to a “corporation-paid” model, Moody’s ratings had become decisive factors for investors. In fact, by 1970, ratings from Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch had become such an important part of bringing securities to market that Moody’s felt it necessary to capitalize on the “market access” their ratings provided by charging issuers. The SEC’s decision to classify Moody?...