The rally worked against the account
On Wednesday investors moved back into technology. The Nasdaq-100 rose 1.13% and QQQ 1.05% to 725.20, ahead of the S&P 500 (+0.58%) and the equal-weight S&P 500 (+0.36%). The gains were led by SpaceX after a strong quarterly report, by Tesla ahead of its own release and by chipmakers led by Nvidia. VIX eased 0.63 points to 16.68 and VXN 0.80 points to 24.42; on the Convexa scale the volatility regime stayed Normal (VIX/VIX3M 0.891).
The account closed the session 0.53% lower, against a 0.53% gain in SPY. The rally worked against the upper side of the options structure: its repricing outweighed the gain on the lower side. The same-day protective options expired worthless, and the weekly ones lost value as volatility declined. Net of fees, the day ended negative.
Two large Nasdaq-100 companies reported after the close. Meta Platforms posted 26% revenue growth and fourth-quarter guidance above expectations; Tesla beat earnings estimates, but its shares turned lower in extended trading. At the close the weekly QQQ straddle priced a move of ±1.36% to the Friday 23 October expiry, down from ±1.76% a day earlier. Thursday brings jobless claims and the Leading Economic Index, Friday the flash PMIs and the final University of Michigan sentiment reading. The Fed remained in its blackout period ahead of the 27–28 October meeting.
For information only. Describes the author's own account. Not investment advice or an offer. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The author is not licensed.
Editor’s Note reflects the author’s market perspective at the time of publication and should be read as commentary, not investment advice.
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