Covid Volatility
January 24, 2022 - By Brett Friedman, OptionStrat Contributor
Volatility Roundup
- The bull market party has been going on since roughly 2009 (and who would have predicted that at the very bottom of the financial crisis?) but is obviously getting a little decrepit. Anxiety about the end of festivities is obviously increasing, and in the world of options, that’s great for implied volatility. Evidence? Last week, 491 stocks out of our universe of 500 showed an increase in implied volatility. On average, 30-day implied volatility jumped a healthy 6% for the week.
- Implied volatility reacts the most to uncertainty and anxiety and is usually the result of new and unexpected information. Take the poster child for Covid indoor fun ‘n games, Peloton (PTON). It leads the pack in implied volatility, trading at a healthy 118%, up 20% for the week. As impressive, its historical volatility increased 48% on the week to 127%. Clearly, the market was just a little surprised at the news of production woes and seeming management incompetence.
- Strangely, implied doesn’t necessarily jump immediately; sometimes it takes a few days for the new situation to set in. A large increase in historical volatility without a corresponding move in implied is usually a sign of this. As of last Friday, Netflix (NFLX) was a good example of this with a whopping 61.6% increase in 30-day historical, but only a 5.8% increase in 30-day implied.
- Whereas previous months were dominated by Covid-affected stocks, this week presents a more balanced selection. The market might be looking for a new toy to play with. Covid seems to be fading as a driver of implied volatility – it’s old news and the current market sell off has replaced it. Although Covid-affected stocks continue to trade at relatively high volatilities, they are stable to decreasing. Is this significant? Absent new developments, the effect of Covid is baked into these stocks and it will take a new shock (not necessarily Covid related) for their implied volatilities to break to new highs.
Top 10 Implied Volatility:
| Ranking | Name (Ticker) | Sector | Implied Volatility (%) | IV Absolute Change (%) | Historical Volatility (%) | HV Absolute Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peloton (PTON) | Health/Exercise | 118.0 | 20.0 | 127.0 | 48.0 |
| 2 | Enphase (ENPH) | Energy | 86.3 | 13.3 | 53.3 | -5.6 |
| 3 | Moderna (MRNA) | Pharm | 82.7 | 14.3 | 69.1 | 2.3 |
| 4 | Penn Nat. Gaming (PENN) | Gaming | 75.8 | 11.9 | 40.2 | -16.4 |
| 5 | Xilinx (XLNX) | Semi-Conductors | 75.6 | 2.75 | 49.0 | -9.5 |
| 6 | Tesla (TSLA) | Autos | 73.7 | 9.2 | 71.7 | -3.8 |
| 7 | ETSY (ETSY) | E-Commerce | 72.5 | 12.4 | 48.0 | -0.9 |
| 8 | Lumen Tech (LUMN) | Tele-communications | 72.5 | 30.6 | 38.7 | -1.5 |
| 9 | Discovery Comm (DISCA) | Entertainment | 70.6 | 6.5 | 82.1 | 10.2 |
| 10 | Twitter (TWTR) | Social Media | 70.0 | 12.4 | 38.5 | 4.9 |
Volatilities of Note:
| Name (Ticker) | Sector | Implied Volatility (%) | IV Absolute Change (%) | Historical Volatility (%) | HV, Absolute Change (%) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Activision (ATVI) | Entertainment | 16.4 | -28.9 | 85.9 | 24.4 | Implied down/historical up; merger flurry over |
| Humana (HUM) | Healthcare | 34.7 | 6.1 | 81.8 | 2.4 | HV > IV by 47.1% |
| Netflix (NFLX) | Entertainment | 47.4 | 5.8 | 86.8 | 61.6 | HV > IV by 39% |
| News Corp(NWS) | Entertainment | 62.6 | 37.5 | 25.5 | -1.3 | 37.5% jump in IV, 25.5% in HV |
| Under Armour(UAA) | Apparel | 62.9 | 7.6 | 26.9 | -7.8 | 26.9% jump in HV |
| Cerner (CERN) | Software | 8.7 | -12.4 | 4.4 | -37.6 | Significant reduction in IV and HV |
Methodology: Rankings include 500 of the largest public companies (by market cap) traded on the NYSE, NASDAQ, or CBOE. All changes are measured over the Friday/previous Friday period; all metrics are based on exchange-provided settlement prices. Implied volatilities represent a 30-day expiration and 0.5 delta, calculated using volatility surface methodologies provided by OptionMetrics.
Options involve a high degree of risk and are not suitable for all investors. OptionStrat is not a registered investment advisor. The calculations, information, and opinions on this site are for educational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Calculations are estimates and do not account for all market conditions and events.