Option Trading, Risk Management, and The Global Macro Trader
One of the best things about being a global macro trader is that of being able to profit when things go crazy. Put another way global macro traders live for events that are covered in risk. If there is no risk then there is likely no reward. Of course blindly taking risks is a road to guaranteed ruin.
One of the first and most important risk management tools available to the macro trader is the practice of positions sizing. Position sizing is when you determine an optimal amount to risk on a trade. Obviously several factors can go into your position sizing algorithm. You can look at the probability of the trade working out. You can look at the over all risk versus reward ratio. And you can look at how much of your portfolio you want to risk. Obviously there are hundreds of potential variables that you can input into your position sizing model.
Now that you have your position sizing algorithm it is time to focus on eliminating or at least minimizing tail risk events. Tail risks are for very improbable events that most investors never even look at or consider. Any stock can go to zero. Your CEO might be committing fraud. Your town could experience a huge earthquake. These and countless other events are considered tail risk events.
Probably the simplest and most effective ways to cut off tail risk is to use options. If you are long volatility then you can profit from it whether you are using puts or calls. If on the other hand you are net shot of volatility then you are at the mercy of the markets and their wild and crazy fluctuations.
Options are very useful to cut off tail risk because they totally limit your risk while allowing for plenty of upside. In fact sometimes they provide a lot more bang for the buck then an outright stock position as they can have a lot of inherent leverage.
As with any trading strategy however there is still some risks that you must be aware of. Two of the most common are one that you may be overpaying for the options. Just like when you buy a stock you don't want to pay too much.
Another risk is that you need to ensure that you know your trading timeframe. If you are hoping to hold the position for several years then you will likely want to reconsider options. If on the other hand you are hoping to hold it for a few day up to a year or so then options may very well be your holy grail.
Ensure that when you are trading that you look at al the available ways to express your market view. By doing this you will often use options and in so doing improve your global macro trading results. - 23212
One of the first and most important risk management tools available to the macro trader is the practice of positions sizing. Position sizing is when you determine an optimal amount to risk on a trade. Obviously several factors can go into your position sizing algorithm. You can look at the probability of the trade working out. You can look at the over all risk versus reward ratio. And you can look at how much of your portfolio you want to risk. Obviously there are hundreds of potential variables that you can input into your position sizing model.
Now that you have your position sizing algorithm it is time to focus on eliminating or at least minimizing tail risk events. Tail risks are for very improbable events that most investors never even look at or consider. Any stock can go to zero. Your CEO might be committing fraud. Your town could experience a huge earthquake. These and countless other events are considered tail risk events.
Probably the simplest and most effective ways to cut off tail risk is to use options. If you are long volatility then you can profit from it whether you are using puts or calls. If on the other hand you are net shot of volatility then you are at the mercy of the markets and their wild and crazy fluctuations.
Options are very useful to cut off tail risk because they totally limit your risk while allowing for plenty of upside. In fact sometimes they provide a lot more bang for the buck then an outright stock position as they can have a lot of inherent leverage.
As with any trading strategy however there is still some risks that you must be aware of. Two of the most common are one that you may be overpaying for the options. Just like when you buy a stock you don't want to pay too much.
Another risk is that you need to ensure that you know your trading timeframe. If you are hoping to hold the position for several years then you will likely want to reconsider options. If on the other hand you are hoping to hold it for a few day up to a year or so then options may very well be your holy grail.
Ensure that when you are trading that you look at al the available ways to express your market view. By doing this you will often use options and in so doing improve your global macro trading results. - 23212
About the Author:
If you need actionable trading ideas then check out The Macro Trader It is a weekly global macro investing advisory publication with frequent intra-week updates for time-critical analysis and actionable trading ideas.
posted by X - Men @ 5:52 AM
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