The market is getting the flush this evening, as JP Morgan announces trading losses coming out of their CIO (Chief Investment Office). It was widely reported that this group was, pretty much, single-handedly crushing the insurance market for name CDS and other similar securities in the 1st quarter of 2012. Now it appears that the risk management office in the bank sold a little too much prior to the recent upswing in volatility. This is probably a good time to review “synthetics” (what JPM said they had on) and “selling volatility”, which, somewhere, it is assumed they are long.
After hours, JPM stock looks down around $3. In an iffy market like this, it won’t take much to have that crater- like opening market participants are getting used to.
Connect With Us