The more hype for an event, the bigger the possibility of a deception. A non-event instead of an exciting trading day. The looming Brexit vote on June 23th is already the grandmother of all high volatility events. Bet this time it will be no different. The July options trade at a big premium.
Both Virtu and Flow Traders had their IPO in the last year. On May 4th both of them released disappointing first quarter earnings. Turbulent markets are good for traders. One could expect these stocks to be stable. When markets plunge, they should be fine. When markets soar, a rising tide lifting all boats. But it doesn’t work like that in the real world.
In the fight for the most talented traders and developers, Flow Traders made a surprising move.
From now on, Flow Traders wants to be compared with the Lidl. The discount supermarket. Have to admit I never visited a Lidl store. Maybe there’s something very attractive about working there.
The ETF options in the USA are soaring. While this sounds like a soundbite from ten years ago, it still holds. The volumes in ETF options have doubled in the last five years.
The option volume in the SPY (S&P 500 ETF) is massive. It accounts for nearly half of the total US options volume. Or have a look at these pie charts from Bloomberg Markets.
IMC Financial Markets released their annual profits and trading income last Wednesday. The trading income rose 12% to €587 million. The net profit rose with the same percentage to €185 million. That’s €20 million more than 2014.
Rob Defares didn’t split up where most of the money was generated. But it’s no secret the US trading business has contributed most to the profit.
Some of the moves in the US have received serious attention in the press. There’s this payment-for-orderflow (PFOF) deal with broker Convergex. And of course in 2014, the move to the big board.
