IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v50y2010i3p555-579.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does informed trading occur in the options market? Some revealing clues

Author

Listed:
  • Natividad Blasco
  • Pilar Corredor
  • Rafael Santamaría

Abstract

This paper analyses the relationship between proxy variables for informed trading in the options market and a set of exogenous news variables. The aim was to test directly for the presence or absence of informed trading in the options market and for the possible impact of this trading on underlying asset prices. Our findings reveal that potential informed trading in options markets is channelled basically through out‐of‐the‐money options, except for volatility trading which mainly involves at‐the‐money options because of their liquidity. In both cases, we have found evidence in favour of investors’ strategic fragmentation of transactions into intermediate size trades (stealth trading). Finally, it is shown that lack of consensus among agents also generates increased trading, particularly in out‐of‐the‐money and at‐the‐money options.

Suggested Citation

  • Natividad Blasco & Pilar Corredor & Rafael Santamaría, 2010. "Does informed trading occur in the options market? Some revealing clues," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(3), pages 555-579, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:50:y:2010:i:3:p:555-579
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-629X.2009.00337.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-629X.2009.00337.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-629X.2009.00337.x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Schlag, Christian & Stoll, Hans, 2005. "Price impacts of options volume," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 69-87, February.
    3. Blasco, Natividad & Corredor, Pilar & Del Rio, Cristina & Santamaria, Rafael, 2005. "Bad news and Dow Jones make the Spanish stocks go round," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(1), pages 253-275, May.
    4. Chakravarty, Sugato, 2001. "Stealth-trading: Which traders' trades move stock prices?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 289-307, August.
    5. Joost Driessen & Pascal Maenhout, 2007. "An Empirical Portfolio Perspective on Option Pricing Anomalies," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 11(4), pages 561-603.
    6. 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.
    7. Chen, Carl R. & Lung, Peter P. & Tay, Nicholas S. P., 2005. "Information flow between the stock and option markets: Where do informed traders trade?," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 1-23.
    8. N. Blasco & P. Corredor & R. Santamaria, 2002. "Is bad news cause of asymmetric volatility response? A note," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(10), pages 1227-1231.
    9. Barclay, Michael J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1993. "Stealth trading and volatility : Which trades move prices?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 281-305, December.
    10. Grossman, Sanford J, 1988. "An Analysis of the Implications for Stock and Futures Price Volatility of Program Trading and Dynamic Hedging Strategies," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(3), pages 275-298, July.
    11. Glosten, Lawrence R. & Milgrom, Paul R., 1985. "Bid, ask and transaction prices in a specialist market with heterogeneously informed traders," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 71-100, March.
    12. Vega, Clara, 2006. "Stock price reaction to public and private information," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 103-133, October.
    13. Brennan, Michael J & Cao, H Henry, 1996. "Information, Trade, and Derivative Securities," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(1), pages 163-208.
    14. 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.
    15. Harrison Hong & Jeremy C. Stein, 2003. "Differences of Opinion, Short-Sales Constraints, and Market Crashes," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 16(2), pages 487-525.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. Biais, Bruno & Hillion, Pierre, 1994. "Insider and Liquidity Trading in Stock and Options Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 7(4), pages 743-780.
    20. 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.
    21. P. Corredor & P. Lechón & R. Santamaría, 2001. "Option‐Expiration Effects in Small Markets: The Spanish Stock Exchange," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(10), pages 905-928, October.
    22. John R. Nofsinger & Brian Prucyk, 2003. "Option volume and volatility response to scheduled economic news releases," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(4), pages 315-345, April.
    23. 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.
    24. Back, Kerry, 1993. "Asymmetric Information and Options," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(3), pages 435-472.
    25. Mayhew, Stewart & Sarin, Atulya & Shastri, Kuldeep, 1995. "The Allocation of Informed Trading across Related Markets: An Analysis of the Impact of Changes in Equity-Option Margin Requirements," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1635-1653, December.
    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. Yushu Zhu & Jennifer Gippel & Kathy Walsh, 2017. "Informed trading on debt covenant violations: the long and short of it," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(1), pages 289-315, March.
    2. Mengyu Zhang & Thanos Verousis & Iordanis Kalaitzoglou, 2022. "Information and the arrival rate of option trading volume," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(4), pages 605-644, April.
    3. Lin, William T. & Tsai, Shih-Chuan & Zheng, Zhenlong & Qiao, Shuai, 2018. "Retrieving aggregate information from option volume," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 220-232.
    4. Corredor, Pilar & Ferrer, Elena & Santamaria, Rafael, 2015. "Sentiment-prone investors and volatility dynamics between spot and futures markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 180-196.
    5. 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.
    6. Lin, William T. & Tsai, Shih-Chuan & Zheng, Zhenlong & Qiao, Shuai, 2017. "Does options trading convey information on futures prices?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 182-196.
    7. Corredor, Pilar & Ferrer, Elena & Santamaria, Rafael, 2014. "Is cognitive bias really present in analyst forecasts? The role of investor sentiment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 824-837.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Hu, Jianfeng, 2014. "Does option trading convey stock price information?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(3), pages 625-645.
    5. Dian‐Xuan Kao & Wei‐Che Tsai & Yaw‐Huei Wang & Kuang‐Chieh Yen, 2018. "An analysis on the intraday trading activity of VIX derivatives," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(2), pages 158-174, February.
    6. Da‐Hea Kim, 2022. "Investment horizon and option market activity," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(5), pages 923-958, May.
    7. Alejandro Bernales & Massimo Guidolin, 2013. "The Effects of Information Asymmetries on the Success of Stock Option Listings," Working Papers 484, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. A. Bernales, 2014. "The Effects of Information Asymmetries on the Ex-Post Success of Stock Option Listings," Working papers 495, Banque de France.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. C. José García Martín & Begoña Herrero Piqueras & Ana María Ibáñez Escribano, 2016. "The informational role of thin options markets: Empirical evidence from the Spanish case," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 43(2 Year 20), pages 233-263, December.
    16. Choy, Siu Kai & Wei, Jason, 2012. "Option trading: Information or differences of opinion?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 2299-2322.
    17. 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.
    18. Du, Brian & Fung, Scott, 2018. "Directional information effects of options trading: Evidence from the banking industry," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 149-168.
    19. 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.
    20. Roll, Richard & Schwartz, Eduardo & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 2014. "Trading activity in the equity market and its contingent claims: An empirical investigation," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 13-35.

    More about this item

    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:bla:acctfi:v:50:y:2010:i:3:p:555-579. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    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.