One may have missed it easily, but last Friday during the July expiration three new classes have been introduced. The weekly options on Arcelor Mittal, ING and Royal Dutch. All innovations are usually received with a warm welcome by Amsterdam traders, as long as it is options on something liquid. The dividendfutures are still waiting for their very first trade.
The volume wasn’t very spectacular, but during a slight sell off in a big expiration the traders have other worries on their mind. Last Fridays sell of was followed after the weekend by a new bargain sale, this time of the option volatility. Strange, after such an ugly Friday.
The ING weekly options were most in favour, trading almost a thousand lots. The pie graph doesn’t really show any real information, just comparing the low volumes in the different weekly stock options. Together the volume on the regular options is more than fifty times bigger for these three weekly stock options (1700 vs 102.000). It’s Euronexts turn to cut the fees, and this trading volume could grow bigger as a result.
Short, completely unrelated, news on Optiver. They made it to the list of top 50 Australian employers, number 35 between mostly unknown and smallish law firms and groceries. Insiders tip Kokomo Capital for next year’s edition. FT Alphaville has put some effort in explaining what Optiver has been doing wrong in their alleged market manipulation with Trade At Settlement futures (TAS) in the USA. Case is still ongoing, though.
