Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Use of leverage is way up


August 2011 Total Contract Volume August 2010 Total Contract Volume August Total Contract % Change vs. 2010 YTD. Avg. Daily Contract 2011 YTD. Avg. Daily Contract 2010 Avg. Daily Contract % Change vs. 2010
Equity Options 501,947,732 262,234,107 91% 17,193,490 14,145,555 22%
Index Options 48,101,675 21,253,003 126% 1,353,037 1,194,173 13%
Total Options 550,049,407 283,487,110 94% 18,546,527 15,339,727 21%
Equity Futures 507,238 407,036 25% 14,496 21,547 -33%
Index / Other Futures 4,284,314 1,233,881 247% 155,333 79,319 96%
OOF 1,504 287 424% 28 22 27%
Total Futures 4,793,056 1,641,204 192% 169,857 100,888 68%
Total Volume 554,842,463 285,128,314 95% 18,716,384 15,440,615 21%  

Above data is from OCC.
Moral of the story? Leverage has reached new highs, as a trading system, and as a society, nothing has been learned and perhaps nothing will be learned until a greater trial is prepared.

1 comment:

Insightful and Useful Comment!