Eurodollar Option Pain Trade
There have been rumors of recent financial distress at some proprietary trading firms that trade Eurodollar Short Term Interest Rates on the CME Group exchange.
The latest block trades posted today confirm that one of these firms might have capitulated or sold the position to deeper-pocket hedge funds or trading firms.
Large block trades in Eurodollar (STIR) options were printed on the CME Group exchange (see image below):
Eurodollar Option Strategies Liquidated
The rumored problem trades were in long dated Eurodollar (STIR) options that expire June 2020 thru June 2021. Proprietary trading firms and locals were short call spreads and short 1X2 call spreads. The prop firms were long the 99 - 100 calls and short the 97.5 - 98.50 calls.
OUCH...Trifecta pain trade - the eurodollar futures market rallied 60 basis points in two months and locals not fully-hedged, implied volatility exploded higher in 97.5 - 98.5 calls, implied volatility collapsed in 99-100 strikes.
"ATM (at-the money) implied volatility increased and OTM (out-of-the-money) implied volatility did not increase as much."
There is no way to confirm amount of losses to proprietary trading firms on this trade structure, but insiders estimate mark-to-market losses are around $80 million USD.