Sayings on Vol and Risk...A Fresh Five

In 2024, I did a 5-part podcast series called “25 Sayings on Vol and Risk”.  These are observations I’ve found do a nice job of describing how markets work, or perhaps better said, how markets sometimes fail to work. Because markets are always teaching us lessons, I couldn’t help but add to the original 25 with five new sayings. I’ll follow up in short order with another five. Here are our Sayings 26-30: 26. “Financial market objects at rest tend to stay at rest.” 27. “Realized vol rules the world.” 28. “My portfolio is more diversified and liquid than I thought, said no one ever.” 29. “The ten-year note, not the SPX, is the risk asset.” 30. “Shake hands with the government and sell what they’re selling.” Hope you Enjoy!

Om Podcasten

The Alpha Exchange is a podcast series launched by Dean Curnutt to explore topics in financial markets, risk management and capital allocation in the alternatives industry. Our in depth discussions with highly established industry professionals seek to uncover the nuanced and complex interactions between economic, monetary, financial, regulatory and geopolitical sources of risk. We aim to learn from the perspective our guests can bring with respect to the history of financial and business cycles, promoting a better understanding among listeners as to how prior periods provide important context to present day dynamics. The “price of risk” is an important topic. Here we engage experts in their assessment of risk premium levels in the context of uncertainty. Is the level of compensation attractive? Because Central Banks have played so important a role in markets post crisis, our discussions sometimes aim to better understand the evolution of monetary policy and the degree to which the real and financial economy will be impacted. An especially important area of focus is on derivative products and how they interact with risk taking and carry dynamics. Our conversations seek to enlighten listeners, for example, as to the factors that promoted the February melt-down of the VIX complex. We do NOT ask our guests for their political opinions. We seek a better understanding of the market impact of regulatory change, election outcomes and events of geopolitical consequence. Our discussions cover markets from a macro perspective with an assessment of risk and opportunity across asset classes. Within equity markets, we may explore the relative attractiveness of sectors but will NOT discuss single stocks.