September and October have been some of the worst months on record for investors in all kinds of assets, from shares to commodities. But what have these dizzying falls and volatility done for derivatives markets, where some traders thrive on volatility and others believe they can make money in good or bad conditions?
Currency derivatives hit record trading volumes last month, and this trend is set to continue, according to Matthew Clark, the head of trading at ACM, a forex platform based in Geneva.
Clark told Futures and Options Intelligence that he expects volumes to stay high, as the dollar market was set to be bullish over the next 12 months. But he doubts whether volumes will go higher still, arguing that the high volumes came when spreads were wide, meaning that “liquidity was down” in forex derivatives.
Peter Rosenstreich, chief market analyst at ACM, believes the principal...