IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/empfin/v42y2017icp40-65.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Informed trading in S&P index options? Evidence from the 2008 financial crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Wei-Xuan
  • French, Joseph J.
  • Chen, Clara Chia-Sheng

Abstract

This study examines the presence of informed trading in S&P 500 index (SPX) options surrounding the 2008 financial crisis. Adverse selection costs are estimated using three spread decomposition models and used as proxies of informed trading. We show that adverse selection costs are economically significant and substantially increase after the onset of the crisis. For example, adverse selection costs increased by an average of $0.962 ($0.884) for call (put) options using estimates from the model of George et al. (1991). When trading with superior information, informed traders prefer options that are near-the-money, of medium maturity (30–90 days), and of low price volatility. Further analysis reveals that information asymmetry costs are positively associated with trade size and negatively associated with trading intensity.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Wei-Xuan & French, Joseph J. & Chen, Clara Chia-Sheng, 2017. "Informed trading in S&P index options? Evidence from the 2008 financial crisis," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 40-65.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:42:y:2017:i:c:p:40-65
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2017.01.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927539817300014
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jempfin.2017.01.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shalen, Catherine T, 1993. "Volume, Volatility, and the Dispersion of Beliefs," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(2), pages 405-434.
    2. Foster, F Douglas & Viswanathan, S, 1990. "A Theory of the Interday Variations in Volume, Variance, and Trading Costs in Securities Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 3(4), pages 593-624.
    3. Kang, Jangkoo & Park, Hyoung-Jin, 2008. "The information content of net buying pressure: Evidence from the KOSPI 200 index option market," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 36-56, February.
    4. Jones, Charles M & Kaul, Gautam & Lipson, Marc L, 1994. "Transactions, Volume, and Volatility," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 7(4), pages 631-651.
    5. Pei Peter Lung & Pisun Xu, 2014. "Tipping and Option Trading," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 43(3), pages 671-701, September.
    6. De Long, J Bradford & Andrei Shleifer & Lawrence H. Summers & Robert J. Waldmann, 1990. "Noise Trader Risk in Financial Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(4), pages 703-738, August.
    7. Chan, Kam C. & Chang, Yuanchen & Lung, Peter P., 2009. "Informed trading under different market conditions and moneyness: Evidence from TXO options," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 189-208, April.
    8. Bai, Jushan, 1997. "Estimating Multiple Breaks One at a Time," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 315-352, June.
    9. Kalok Chan & Y. Peter Chung & Wai-Ming Fong, 2002. "The Informational Role of Stock and Option Volume," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(4), pages 1049-1075.
    10. Copeland, Thomas E & Galai, Dan, 1983. "Information Effects on the Bid-Ask Spread," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(5), pages 1457-1469, December.
    11. Vijh, Anand M, 1990. "Liquidity of the CBOE Equity Options," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1157-1179, September.
    12. Charles Cao & Zhiwu Chen & John M. Griffin, 2005. "Informational Content of Option Volume Prior to Takeovers," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(3), pages 1073-1109, May.
    13. Jun Pan & Allen M. Poteshman, 2006. "The Information in Option Volume for Future Stock Prices," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 871-908.
    14. Huang, Roger D & Stoll, Hans R, 1997. "The Components of the Bid-Ask Spread: A General Approach," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 995-1034.
    15. Lee, Charles M C & Ready, Mark J, 1991. "Inferring Trade Direction from Intraday Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(2), pages 733-746, June.
    16. Hsieh, Wen-liang G. & He, Huei-Ru, 2014. "Informed trading, trading strategies and the information content of trading volume: Evidence from the Taiwan index options market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 187-215.
    17. Jushan Bai & Pierre Perron, 1998. "Estimating and Testing Linear Models with Multiple Structural Changes," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(1), pages 47-78, January.
    18. Hansen, Bruce E, 1997. "Approximate Asymptotic P Values for Structural-Change Tests," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 15(1), pages 60-67, January.
    19. Andrews, Donald W K & Ploberger, Werner, 1994. "Optimal Tests When a Nuisance Parameter Is Present Only under the Alternative," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(6), pages 1383-1414, November.
    20. Easley, David & O'Hara, Maureen, 1987. "Price, trade size, and information in securities markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 69-90, September.
    21. Hasbrouck, Joel, 1991. "The Summary Informativeness of Stock Trades: An Econometric Analysis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 4(3), pages 571-595.
    22. Madhavan, Ananth & Smidt, Seymour, 1991. "A Bayesian model of intraday specialist pricing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 99-134, November.
    23. Stoll, Hans R, 1989. " Inferring the Components of the Bid-Ask Spread: Theory and Empirical Tests," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(1), pages 115-134, March.
    24. Madhavan, Ananth & Richardson, Matthew & Roomans, Mark, 1997. "Why Do Security Prices Change? A Transaction-Level Analysis of NYSE Stocks," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 1035-1064.
    25. Bryan Routledge & Stanley Zin, 2009. "Model Uncertainty and Liquidity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(4), pages 543-566, October.
    26. Huh, Sahn-Wook & Lin, Hao & Mello, Antonio S., 2015. "Options market makers׳ hedging and informed trading: Theory and evidence," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 26-58.
    27. George, Thomas J & Kaul, Gautam & Nimalendran, M, 1991. "Estimation of the Bid-Ask Spread and Its Components: A New Approach," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 4(4), pages 623-656.
    28. Kyle, Albert S, 1985. "Continuous Auctions and Insider Trading," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(6), pages 1315-1335, November.
    29. Hu, Jianfeng, 2014. "Does option trading convey stock price information?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(3), pages 625-645.
    30. Jushan Bai & Pierre Perron, 2003. "Computation and analysis of multiple structural change models," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(1), pages 1-22.
    31. Podolski, Edward J. & Truong, Cameron & Veeraraghavan, Madhu, 2013. "Informed options trading prior to takeovers – Does the regulatory environment matter?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 286-305.
    32. Lee, Jason & Yi, Cheong H., 2001. "Trade Size and Information-Motivated Trading in the Options and Stock Markets," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(4), pages 485-501, December.
    33. Jeff Fleming & Barbara Ostdiek & Robert E. Whaley, 1996. "Trading costs and the relative rates of price discovery in stock, futures, and option markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(4), pages 353-387, June.
    34. Chern, Keh-Yiing & Tandon, Kishore & Yu, Susana & Webb, Gwendolyn, 2008. "The information content of stock split announcements: Do options matter?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 930-946, June.
    35. Liu, Dehong & Lung, Pei Peter & Lallemand, Justin, 2015. "Anticipation of takeovers in stock and options markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 19-35.
    36. Kee H. Chung & Mingsheng Li, 2003. "Adverse‐Selection Costs and the Probability of Information‐Based Trading," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 38(2), pages 257-272, May.
    37. Hee‐Joon Ahn & Jangkoo Kang & Doojin Ryu, 2008. "Informed trading in the index option market: The case of KOSPI 200 options," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(12), pages 1118-1146, December.
    38. Jushan Bai & Pierre Perron, 2003. "Critical values for multiple structural change tests," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 6(1), pages 72-78, June.
    39. Muravyev, Dmitriy & Pearson, Neil D. & Paul Broussard, John, 2013. "Is there price discovery in equity options?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 259-283.
    40. Andrews, Donald W K, 1993. "Tests for Parameter Instability and Structural Change with Unknown Change Point," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(4), pages 821-856, July.
    41. Lin, Ji-Chai & Sanger, Gary C & Booth, G Geoffrey, 1995. "Trade Size and Components of the Bid-Ask Spread," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 8(4), pages 1153-1183.
    42. Sugato Chakravarty & Huseyin Gulen & Stewart Mayhew, 2004. "Informed Trading in Stock and Option Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(3), pages 1235-1258, June.
    43. Choy, Siu Kai & Wei, Jason, 2012. "Option trading: Information or differences of opinion?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 2299-2322.
    44. Anat R. Admati, Paul Pfleiderer, 1988. "A Theory of Intraday Patterns: Volume and Price Variability," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 3-40.
    45. Easley, David & O'Hara, Maureen, 1992. "Adverse Selection and Large Trade Volume: The Implications for Market Efficiency," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(2), pages 185-208, June.
    46. Schlag, Christian & Stoll, Hans, 2005. "Price impacts of options volume," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 69-87, February.
    47. Hasbrouck, Joel, 1988. "Trades, quotes, inventories, and information," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 229-252, December.
    48. Spyros Spyrou & Andrianos Tsekrekos & Georgia Siougle, 2011. "Informed trading around merger and acquisition announcements: Evidence from the UK equity and options markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 703-726, August.
    49. Chesney, Marc & Crameri, Remo & Mancini, Loriano, 2015. "Detecting abnormal trading activities in option markets," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 263-275.
    50. Stephan, Jens A & Whaley, Robert E, 1990. "Intraday Price Change and Trading Volume Relations in the Stock and Stock Option Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(1), pages 191-220, March.
    51. Erenburg, Grigori & Kurov, Alexander & Lasser, Dennis J., 2006. "Trading around macroeconomic announcements: Are all traders created equal?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 470-493, October.
    52. Stoll, Hans R. & Whaley, Robert E., 1990. "The Dynamics of Stock Index and Stock Index Futures Returns," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(4), pages 441-468, December.
    53. Wen‐Hsiu Kuo & San‐Lin Chung & Chiao‐Yi Chang, 2015. "The Impacts of Individual and Institutional Trading on Futures Returns and Volatility: Evidence from Emerging Index Futures Markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(3), pages 222-244, March.
    54. Chang, Chuang-Chang & Hsieh, Pei-Fang & Lai, Hung-Neng, 2009. "Do informed option investors predict stock returns? Evidence from the Taiwan stock exchange," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 757-764, April.
    55. Kaushik I. Amin & Charles M. C. Lee, 1997. "Option Trading, Price Discovery, and Earnings News Dissemination," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 153-192, June.
    56. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1993. "Differences of Opinion Make a Horse Race," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(3), pages 473-506.
    57. Wen Jin & Joshua Livnat & Yuan Zhang, 2012. "Option Prices Leading Equity Prices: Do Option Traders Have an Information Advantage?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 401-432, May.
    58. David Easley & Maureen O'Hara & P.S. Srinivas, 1998. "Option Volume and Stock Prices: Evidence on Where Informed Traders Trade," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(2), pages 431-465, April.
    59. Yacine Aït-Sahalia & Andrew W. Lo, 1998. "Nonparametric Estimation of State-Price Densities Implicit in Financial Asset Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(2), pages 499-547, April.
    60. Anand, Amber & Chakravarty, Sugato, 2007. "Stealth Trading in Options Markets," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(1), pages 167-187, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wu, Zhen-Xing & Gau, Yin-Feng, 2022. "Informativeness of trades around macroeconomic announcements in the foreign exchange market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Doojin Ryu & Doowon Ryu & Heejin Yang, 2021. "The impact of net buying pressure on index options prices," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(1), pages 27-45, January.
    3. Doojin Ryu & Heejin Yang, 2018. "The directional information content of options volumes," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(12), pages 1533-1548, December.
    4. Xingguo Luo & Wenye Cai & Doojin Ryu, 2022. "Information contents of intraday SSE 50 ETF options trades," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(4), pages 580-604, April.
    5. Lee, Jaeram & Ryu, Doojin & Yang, Heejin, 2021. "Does vega-neutral options trading contain information?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 294-314.
    6. Jongho Kang & Jangkoo Kang & Jaeram Lee, 2022. "Who and what drives informed options trading after the market opens?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 338-364, March.
    7. Sensoy, Ahmet & Omole, John, 2022. "Information content of order imbalance in the index options market," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 418-432.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Webb, Robert I. & Ryu, Doojin & Ryu, Doowon & Han, Joongho, 2016. "The price impact of futures trades and their intraday seasonality," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 80-98.
    2. Choy, Siu Kai & Wei, Jason, 2012. "Option trading: Information or differences of opinion?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 2299-2322.
    3. Vinay Patel, 2015. "Price Discovery in US and Australian Stock and Options Markets," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 27, July-Dece.
    4. Vinay Patel, 2015. "Price Discovery in US and Australian Stock and Options Markets," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 6-2015.
    5. Lee, Jaeram & Ryu, Doojin & Yang, Heejin, 2021. "Does vega-neutral options trading contain information?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 294-314.
    6. Hsieh, Wen-liang G. & He, Huei-Ru, 2014. "Informed trading, trading strategies and the information content of trading volume: Evidence from the Taiwan index options market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 187-215.
    7. Ledenyov, Dimitri O. & Ledenyov, Viktor O., 2015. "Wave function method to forecast foreign currencies exchange rates at ultra high frequency electronic trading in foreign currencies exchange markets," MPRA Paper 67470, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Chang, Chuang-Chang & Hsieh, Pei-Fang & Lai, Hung-Neng, 2013. "The price impact of options and futures volume in after-hours stock market trading," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 984-1007.
    9. Alejandro Bernales & Thanos Verousis & Nikolaos Voukelatos & Mengyu Zhang, 2020. "What do we know about individual equity options?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 67-91, January.
    10. Lee, Yen-Hsien & Wang, David K., 2016. "Information content of investor trading behavior: Evidence from Taiwan index options market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 149-160.
    11. Doojin Ryu & Jinyoung Yu, 2021. "Informed options trading around holidays," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(5), pages 658-685, May.
    12. Hu, Jianfeng, 2014. "Does option trading convey stock price information?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(3), pages 625-645.
    13. Doojin Ryu & Heejin Yang, 2018. "The directional information content of options volumes," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(12), pages 1533-1548, December.
    14. Kelley Bergsma & Andy Fodor & Vijay Singal & Jitendra Tayal, 2020. "Option trading after the opening bell and intraday stock return predictability," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(3), pages 769-804, September.
    15. Pascual, Roberto & Escribano, Álvaro & Tapia, Mikel, 1999. "How does liquidity behave? A multidimensional analysis of NYSE stocks," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB 6433, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    16. Chung, Kee H. & Park, Seongkyu “Gilbert” & Ryu, Doojin, 2016. "Trade duration, informed trading, and option moneyness," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 395-411.
    17. Sensoy, Ahmet & Omole, John, 2022. "Information content of order imbalance in the index options market," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 418-432.
    18. Pascual, Roberto & Escribano, Álvaro & Tapia, Mikel, 2000. "Adverse selection costs, trading activity and liquidity in the NYSE: an empirical analysis in a dynamic context," UC3M Working papers. Economics 7276, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    19. Kang, Jangkoo & Park, Hyoung-Jin, 2008. "The information content of net buying pressure: Evidence from the KOSPI 200 index option market," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 36-56, February.
    20. Rohini Grover, 2017. "The informational role of algorithmic traders in the option market," Working Papers id:11701, eSocialSciences.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    G01; G14; G19; S&P 500 Index (SPX) Options; Market microstructure; Adverse selection; Information asymmetry; Informed trading;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G19 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Other

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:42:y:2017:i:c:p:40-65. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jempfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.