End of Year Volatility Links

Now that the VIX is down more than 50% from its October peak, it seems as if everyone wants to talk about the VIX and volatility.

So…for the last time in 2008, here are some of the recent posts from around the blogosphere (with a heavy volatility flavor) that I have been chewing on for the past week or so:

• Credit Crisis – Signs of Progress (Prieur du Pressis, The Big Picture)
• Madoff’s Volatility (Felix Salmon)
• More Leverage (Adam Warner, Daily Options Report)
• Air Pocket Watch: November Hotel Occupancy (Paul Kedrosky, Infectious Greed)
• 2009: Already Looking Bleak (Mike Shedlock)
• Friday Market Sentiment (Headline Charts)
• Learning from Mistakes: The Short Sale Ban (Jeff Miller, A Dash of Insight)
• Spot the Difference in Volatility Levels (Peter Jacobson, Barron’s)
• The Relativity of Volatility & 100 Year Floods (Babak, Trader’s Narrative)
• The Volatility of the VIX: From Bear Panic to Barely Elevated (Brett Steenbarger, TraderFeed)
• Sentiment Surveys and the VIX (Peter Birchler, Stock Market Alchemy)
• Volatility, The VIX, S&P 500 and High Jump (Ian Woodward)
• Good Economic News for the Holidays: Volatility is Down (Ian Ayres, Freakonomics)
• Research Brief: Looking for Clues in Economic Volatility (James Picerno, The Capital Spectator)
• The Demand for Risk and a Macroeconomic Theory of Credit Default Swaps: Part I (Charles Davi, Derivative Dribble)
• Ideas for Volatile Times: Upside-Down Split-Strikes (Brian Overby, The Options Insider)
• Testing a Simple Index Covered Calls Strategy (CXO Advisory Group)
• International Long-Term Interest Rates (Bespoke Investment Group)
• ThinkorSwim ThinkAI (Emini Addict)

…a series of posts triggered by a Bloomberg article by Jeff Kearns and Michael Tsang’s VIX Fails to Forecast S&P 500 Drop, Loses Followers:

• Journalists Have a Responsibility Not to Get It Wrong (Mark Wolfinger, Options for Rookies)
• VIX Fails to Give You a Pony and Premature VIX Obituary Roundup (Condor Options)
• Bloomberg Says VIX Is Worthless (Don Fishback)
• VIX Searching for Its Mojo (Adam Warner, Daily Options Report)

…and VIX and More’s first mention in Barron’s:

• The Best Way to Use the VIX (Michael Kahn, Barron’s)