We all love mysteries, so here’s a fun one for finance geeks.
One particular anonymous volatility trader had earned the nickname “50 cent” for their consistent purchases of Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) options typically costing about 50 cents. 50 Cent’s activity had them sitting on a close to $200mm loss into January 2018, then the market went nutty, putting 50 Cent’s position at +$187mm.
Seemingly unable to rest, 50 Cent has been back up to his old tricks this week. It started early Tuesday, with the purchase of 50,000 call options with strikes prices of 28, bought at $0.50 and $0.51 apiece. Then, on Wednesday morning, an identical trade was made at a price of $0.49.