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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Julius Wong who wrote (163981)	10/20/2020 1:42:22 PM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 217774

In the “I didn’t know” category... The quirk likely boils down to the fact that QQQ was created in 1999 as a unit investment trust, which required a specified termination date. The world’s biggest ETF -- the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust -- was also launched as a UIT in 1993, and is tied to the fate of 11 people born between 1990 and 1993. bloomberg.com The Lifespan of 15 Millennials Is Now Meaningless to QQQ’s Fate Katherine Greifeld October 21, 2020, 12:40 AM GMT+8 The longevity of one of the world’s largest exchange-traded funds no longer depends on a group of millennials. The $138 billion Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1, ticker QQQ, changed its ruleslast week to state that the fund’s expiration date will now be tied to the “maturity, redemption, sale or other disposition” of its last security. Previously, the ETF would be terminated on either March 4, 2124, or 20 years after the death of the 15 people born between 1986 and 1996 who were named in the Trust Agreement, according to its prospectus. Tying QQQ’s termination date to its underlying assets effectively extends the fund’s lifespan for a “theoretically infinite” amount of time, said Jeffrey Ptak, global director of manager research for Morningstar Inc. A spokeswoman from Invesco declined to comment. The quirk likely boils down to the fact that QQQ was created in 1999 as a unit investment trust, which required a specified termination date. The world’s biggest ETF -- the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust -- was also launched as a UIT in 1993, and is tied to the fate of 11 people born between 1990 and 1993. While UITs have advantages -- such as not having to pay a board of directors -- they’ve mostly been discontinued as the ETF universe grows more complex, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. “UITs were phased out pretty quickly in favor of the open-end management company, because those could be managed and do things like use derivatives or engage in securities lending,” said Eric Balchunas, ETF analyst for BI. QQQ has rallied about 35% in 2020 and is poised for its best year of inflows in two decades. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. LEARN MORE Sent from my iPad

To: Julius Wong who wrote (163981)	10/20/2020 2:32:16 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217774

Astounded ... edition.cnn.com Australia Covid-19 quarantine blood-testing blunder prompts calls for hundreds to take HIV test (CNN) — More than 200 former residents of coronavirus quarantine facilities in Australia are being urged to test for blood-transmitted diseases, including HIV, after authorities admitted they used the same blood-testing devices for multiple guests. It's the latest in a series of Covid-19 setbacks to hit the country and the state of Victoria in particular. Earlier breaches at Victoria quarantine hotels led to a Covid-19 outbreak in Melbourne, prompting the country's second biggest city to spend months under a strict lockdown. In a statement Monday, Victorian health agency, Safer Care Victoria, said it was contacting 243 people who had a blood glucose level test before August 20 as there was a risk of cross-contamination and blood-borne viruses, including HIV. "The clinical risk of infection is low. However, for reassurance, access to confidential testing will be arranged," Safer Care Victoria said in a statement. Victoria has reported more than 20,000 coronavirus cases, including over 800 deaths, making it the Covid-19 hotspot of Australia. The country has reported more than 27,400 cases and at least 905 deaths in total, according to Johns Hopkins University. What went wrong with the tests Australia closed its borders to all non-citizens and residents in March, and any returning travelers must pay 3,000 Australian dollars ($2,110) to spend two weeks in a state quarantine facility. In the months since, thousands of travelers have passed through Australia's quarantine hotels -- but not all of them require a blood glucose level test. These devices -- which take a finger prick to get a drop of blood -- are used to test blood glucose levels in people with diabetes, but may also be used for pregnant women, people who fainted, or people who are generally ... etc etc

To: Julius Wong who wrote (163981)	10/20/2020 6:38:07 PM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 217774

Item to consider re the structural happenings that may matter, and by feel of the Force I believe worthy zerohedge.com Quirk In Options Trading Could Lead To "Large, Sharp" Market DrawdownSubmitted by SpotGamma The 2020 markets have been remarkable for a myriad of reasons but for us there is nothing more remarkable than call option demand. This past week we highlighted huge call induced moves in AMZN & ZM, and this week we came across the data set featured below. This data measures “Customer” flow which is essentially retail and “buy side” trading. As you can see the premium being spent on single stock call options is heavily outpacing that of ETF’s and Index. There was an initial call buying acceleration into Feb ’20 which at the time was record call volumes. However, following the March market collapse single stock demand soared both to news highs and in relation to ETF & Index. Whats significant about this is that these call volumes likely force markets higher.This is because when call buyers purchase options it leaves dealers and market makers short calls. In order to hedge they must buy stocks both initially and as the market goes higher. This means that as stocks go up dealers and market makers must keep buying stock. As markets rise it may be more attractive for options speculators to buy more calls, which leads to more long hedges. This is what makes the tweet above from Atremis’ Christopher Cole so important – these call options flows can have a major impact on markets and traders are now shifting to trade these hedging flows. The lack of ETF/Index call volume is strange given the massive market rebound from March lows. Generally Index options are used by large entities due to higher notional values. It does appear that big players stepped in to buy “macro” index exposure into the March dip. Following that it appears that both retail and large institutions (like SoftBank) have preferred single stocks based on this surge in single stock call premiums. Buy to Open Call PremiumsThe put flows present some equally interesting data. You can see that single stock put premium is now a fraction of current call premiums. Whats really fascinating about the March selloff is how Index options premiums outpaced that of ETF & single stock. This is again likely due to large institutions seeking macro hedges to protect against further downside. It also appears those options were bought into the tail end of March, indicating a lot was spent on puts just as the market was rebounding. Buy to Open Put PremiumsWe see little reason to think the call buying trends change materially. With just weeks to the election we’d note that several brokers have raised margin rates which may deter some buying into 11/3. There seems to be general consensus that a Blue Wave is coming, and along with that massive stimulus. Given the Pavlovian stimulus response call buyers may step up in force and push markets to new highs. Conversely if we see any type of election issues markets may weaken. There are substantial put positions out in December of 2020, and our concern is that a weak market may lead option dealers to short futures to hedge those put positions. This could lead to a large sharp draw down similar to December of 2018. However, because those hedges are already in place we may not see a substantial put premium spike like we did in March of this year.

To: Julius Wong who wrote (163981)	10/20/2020 6:48:19 PM
From: TobagoJack	1 Recommendation Recommended By sense Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217774

Another item to consider, and overnight I did long VIX Feb puts, one part of the below trade, details shortly, but I did not fund the trade by shorting puts of different strike on the VIX, which I believe might be dangerous-enough zerohedge.com Mystery Trader Shocks Market With Giant VIX Put Trades While everyone is familiar with the exploits of the notorious vol trader Ruffer LLP, better known in the market as "50 cent" for his penchant for buying deep OTM VIX calls which while usually expiring worthless, occasionally make a killing, such as the $2.6 billion the fund made during the March crash when VIX soared, a new and heretofore unknown player has emerged in the vol space. And because this particular trader's bet appear to be on a reduction in volatility Perhaps we can call him minus 50 cent? According to Bloomberg, which first reported the mystery trader's exploits, so large were the fund's block trades that it moved the market's entire Put to Call ratio from near record lows to the highest in a decade! The fund was most likely buying a giant put spread in a massive bet that the VIX which is currently at 29 will tumble to 17 by February, or just after the inauguration date. According to Bloomberg, the unknown trader bought and sold some 360,000 put options, sending volume in those contracts soaring and moving the broader put-to-call measure, which has been declining in recent months, to 3.5, the highest level since 2009. And all that from one trade. Just as notable, as fast as the trader appeared, his disappearance was just as fast, and it was all gone by Monday, as put volumes tumbled; the put-to-call ratio on the VIX Index was back to 0.98 on Monday, near its average for this year. How do we know this was just one trader? According to Susquehanna Financial’s co-head of derivatives strategy Chris Murphy, trades accounting for 68% of Friday’s put volume came from one investor making block trades. As part of the put spread, the unidentified investor bought 60,000 VIX 21 put contracts that expire in February on a bet that the index will decline, while selling 120,000 February 17 puts to offset his cost basis, and with the assumption that volatility won’t drop much below that level. He made a similar trade for VIX options expiring in March. Of course, if the VIX fails to drop or rises, both trades will expire worthless. "I believe this investor is positioning for (or hedging against) lower volatility in the 1Q21, likely due to a combination of the election being over, vaccine success and continued Fed support,” Murphy told Bloomberg. "This has a huge impact not only on VIX put/call ratio but on put/call ratio for all index products,” he added, noting a Friday spike in the Cboe Index put-to-call ratio. Incidentally this is effectively a trade is a bet that the market is pricing in far too much risk from a contested election, and is betting that the VIX term structure will flatten and decline, which incidentally is the trade we recommended on Sept 30 in " "Contested Election" It Is: Here Is How To Trade It." Yet while the rationale behind the trade is clear, it’s hard to say who’s behind the trade. Separately, Friday’s expiration of options had likely little to do with the trades so far out next year, according to Interactive Brokers LLC’s Steve Sosnick, unless the customer had a similarly large expiring position, which is impossible to track down using public data. Whoever’s behind the is bet that volatility will subside post-election they’re not alone, with the shape of the VIX curve showing a gradual easing in volatility beginning in December, although the curve has certainly moved higher over the past week amid renewed stimulus and covid risks. The VIX Index -- a gauge of the 30-day implied volatility of U.S. stocks also known as the “fear gauge” -- closed above 29 on Monday as the S&P 500 slid 1.6% amid renewed concerns a stimulus package won’t be agreed on before the election. Futures on the S&P 500 Index are trading 0.4% higher, following an up day in Asia and Europe.