Training on Futures & Options

BlackSwan intends to conduct a training program on F&O during NOV 5-7,2011 and repeat the same course on NOV 19-21,2011.

1. Signals from F&O by Devangshu Datta my favorite analyst here.
2. Measuring Volatility here.
3. Another good piece by Devangshu Datta.
4. Conquering Volatility
5. Article on F&O strategies as a template for analyzing market movement.

Infact, a collection of his articles in Smart Investor of Business Standard every Tuesday will make one a well informed trader or investor in Derivatives.

Essential Package for MBA ( Finance) students & Fresh Graduates

BlackSwan Financial Marlets School is launching an essential package for MBA Students of JNTU/OU.
This package is planned as three parts which will give solid understanding of Equity markets, Practical exposure to Trading & Exchanges, Corporate perspective on relationship management in Financial services industry.

1. One-Week Crash Course ( Dec27- 31,2010) full time ( 10am - 4 pm) on the subjects  SECURITY ANALYSIS & PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT , DERIVATIVES.
2. NCFM - Capital Market Dealers Module & Derivatives Market Dealers Module Training
3. Live project with Share Broker ( Member of NSE)

FUTURES & OPTIONS MADE EASY ( FOME)

FOME , a Derivatives workshop is being conducted on NOV 27-28,2010 at BLACKSWAN Financial Markets School.

1. The twin objectives of this workshop are

     a) To understand the Derivatives Instruments- Futures & Options as they  are traded at NSE 
      b) To be able to succesfully clear NCFM - Derivatives Dealers Module ,    NCFM - Option Trading Strategies Module

  2. The following topics are covered in the course

             a) Introduction to Derivatives
             b) Reading the Derivatives page
             c) Market Index
             d) Introduction to Futures & Options
             e) Application of Futures & Options
             f) Option Strategies - 22 types of strategies given in NCFM - Option  trading strategies module
            g)Option Pricing
           h) Greeks - Delta, Gamma, Vega, Theta, Rho
           i) Volatility
           j) Trading the Earnings & Expiration Cycle

 3. Practical analysis of Open Interest, Put-Call Ratio, Implied Volatility data
     is discussed

Useful resources on DERIVATIVES

Web provides top class resources on financial markets,trading and exchanges.

1. Derivatives FAQs by Ajay Shah, an original thinker in Financial Economics. Although the document is

a bit dated, his prose reminds me of the style of Larry Harris in Trading & Exchanges

2. Another original piece by Dr Ajay Shah

Short cut to approximating IV,HV

Some of the benefits of sharing market information is the trainer achieves more clarity on specific concepts.

1. In delivering NSE program on derivatives , I came across a shortcut to approximating Implied Volatility(IV) and Historical Volatility(HV).
2. Normal approach to caluculating HV involves statistical caluculation.
3. Devangshu Datta of BS describes a thumb rule approach to estimating HV. It involves calculating the daily  HIGH - LOW range as a % of Futures settle price. You can take say, a 20-day moving average of this in order to get a smoother value. This can be used as a proxy for HV.
4. For estimating IV, We can take nearest to money call option and nearest to money put option premiums and calculate the breakevens to derive a range. For ex Nifty at 5280, 5300C (premium 100) and 5250 P (128) can be considered. A strangle breaks even outside 5558 -5022. This 536 points can be expressed as a percentage of NIFTY 5300 approx 10% as a estimate of IV. 
5. Black-Scholes options caluculator gives more precision but a thumbrule approx can be done as above

NSE - MANIPAL Training Program on DERIVATIVES

I had the pleasure of taking classes for NSE-Manipal Training program on Derivatives at Hyderabad.

1. The educational material of NSE is absolutely top class.
2. The 14-hour program covered all Market Design, Microstructure and Analysis
3. Audience interacted very well  with diverse profiles from JPMorgan, Dr Reddy Labs, Stockbroking employees like Kantilal Chaganlal, India Infoline, and Independent traders.
4. I could discuss various indicators for derivatives analysis like  OI, CoC, PCR, IV by taking reference to DEVANGSHU DATTA's article in BUSINESS STANDARD - Smart Investor JULY 2007
5. Interpretation and understanding of Derivatives analysis by Devangshu Datta in Tuesday's BS will be very helpful to investors & traders in interpreting market direction.
6. Participants could appreciate the role of market design in taking trading decisions.