Insights
Daily market commentary from Imran Lakha. Skew, vol surfaces, hedging, and what's actually moving the tape.
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You may be hedging away your edge
Implied correlation used to sit around 60% when I started running dispersion. If you liked a single-stock position, you had time.
Expensive doesn’t mean mispriced
Gold used to trade 15–20 vol. Divide implied vol by 16 and you roughly get the expected daily move. So 16 vol implies about 1% a day.
Video lesson: you are missing a key part of the puzzle...
If you’re chasing the move instead of understanding the "under-the-hood" vol dynamics, you’re missing a key part of the puzzle.
My process to enter trades (explained)
It's game time on Google. Here is how the sequence always plays out. I first monitor an instrument awaiting for the right conditions...
If it's a delta trade, stop calling it theta
Most iron condors I see aren't theta trades.They're delta trades in disguise...
Gamma flip is not a trade
A lot of traders think finding the gamma flip level is edge. It just simply isn’t.
Lesson: being right on volatility isn’t enough
Last week I was long the daily SPX straddle around $40 going into the jobs number...
High IV doesn’t make the trade good
If your first thought is “IV rank is high, this is attractive,” you’re missing the point
If your strategy has no veto, it isn’t a strategy
I don’t have a favorite trade. I have favorite conditions. And when those conditions aren’t present, I stop.
Options are NOT too risky
Most people who say “options are too risky” have already made a decision error. They’ve judged the instrument before defining the payoff.
How I size these post-shock adds...
Were you triggered by last week's 15–20% crypto dump?
“Hodler” isn’t a plan. It’s an unpriced exposure.
Are you one of those traders thinking “risk management” starts after the entry?
A calibrated decision loop...
Most traders think the value of a trading community shows up after the trade.P&L screenshots. Victory laps. “Called it” energy.
A lesson on time value...
Yesterday a subscriber asked a question that sounds like it’s about execution, but isn’t. He’s been long deep ITM GDX LEAP calls for a long time. When price moved, he tried to roll them up.
Being hedged can still be a mistake
BTC moved into support. I’m still fully hedged on my crypto exposure.
Most hedges solve the wrong problem
A lot of traders react to moves that aren’t actually risky. They’re just uncomfortable.
SPX fixed strike vol: are you noticing?
When price whips around and fixed-strike skew stays bid, the market isn’t debating direction. It’s repricing downside distribution...
When the market pays for insurance into strength
Yesterday morning looked clean on the surface. SPX pushed higher, flirting with 7000.Tech earnings were out of the way.