This Time It's Different as Stock Traders Were Prepared for Rout
- Traders had built protection during the September rally
- Decent hedging is a big change from previous peaks: strategist
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The sharp sell-off in European stocks over the past two days may seem to echo those in May and August, but there’s one significant difference. This time, traders were ready. Options contracts show market operators built protection against losses during the September rally.
The put-call ratio on the Euro Stoxx 50 had reached a peak of 3.4 on Sept. 24. And the 10-day moving average of the ratio was at its highest since October 2018.