The Credit Suisse ETN that folded had returned 46% annually since 2010 before imploding Monday. Both Barron’s and Seeking Alpha had articles over the last several months noting how crowded the “short volatility” trade had become and how many retail investors had been lulled by 8 years of steadily lowering volatility into thinking this was easy money.
One of the authors had described the trade as “picking up pennies in front of a bulldozer”.
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