Implied Correlation Closes At All Time Record High
by ilene - August 13th, 2010 5:27 pm
Implied Correlation Closes At All Time Record High
Courtesy of Tyler Durden
Or another possible title: Stock Dispersion Hits All Time Record Low…
It was only Wednesday when we were lamenting the collapse of alpha after implied correlation hit an all time intraday high of just under 80. Well, today should be the day when all long/short funds are shutting down: implied corr just closed at an all time record high of 79.57, after also posting an absolute intraday record of 80.08. It is getting ever more obvious that stocks continue to trade more and more as just one asset class, as seen by the constant increase in JCJ below, which has risen almost 15% in this week alone. At this rate, every stock will trade just like every other stock in under 3 weeks when alpha is officially put to rest and stock dispersion has undergone an extinction level event (better known as HFT and ETF encroachment, in which it is the price that determines value and not the other way around).
And here is some food for thought: if stocks trade increasingly as one, and if the Hindenburg Omen (as we pointed out first yesterday before the term the internet on fire) is confirmed in the next 5 weeks, just what will happen when everything sells off as one?
****
See also: The Hindenburg Omen Has Arrived & The Hindenburg Omen was triggered today!
And for an alternative point of view, Omens and Dojis and Tells, Oh My!
Lack Of Stock Dispersion Hits All Time Record
by ilene - August 11th, 2010 12:34 pm
Lack Of Stock Dispersion Hits All Time Record As Most Stocks Now Trade As One
Courtesy of Tyler Durden
Fundamental analysis is no longer relevant as Alpha has just done one more revolution in its grave: today 1 Year Implied Correlation hit a new all time record, at 79.84 (out of 100 maximum possible), meaning the inverse of the metric, stock dispersion, or the measurement of the variation in individual stock prices, or broadly speaking alpha, is now completely irrelevant. As we have been saying for a year, "investing" is now all about a levered beta bet, using the maximum possible leverage, and sacrifices to Moloch, that the market does not turn before price targets are hit. At this rate we anticipate the next broad or acute selloff will take us to 100 in implied correlation, at which point there will be no benefit whatsoever to trading individual stocks: the entire market will be one big ETF.
As a clarification: the data comes from the CBOE S&P 500 Implied Correlation Index is a widely disseminated, market-based estimate of the average correlation of the stocks that comprise the S&P 500 Index. Using SPX options prices, together with the prices of options on the 50 largest stocks in the SPX. Tied to January 2011 Option Maturities.
h/t Credit Trader