Condor Options

More Volatility Ahead This Summer

We’re talking stock volatility as well, not just the implied volatility in the options indexes. Mark Hulbert compiled data showing that the May-October period, which typically underperforms the October-April period anyway, fares even worse when the latter period has been weak: The stock market’s summer returns have been far more volatile following losing winters than winning ones. Consider the standard deviation of the Dow’s summer returns, which is one of the primary ways in which statisticians measure volatility. Following winning winters,…