FX Markets

Overnight options roller-coaster

Nigel Babbage, global head of currency derivatives trading at BNP Paribas in New York, shared the rules that guide his work at the bank, and some of the anecdotes illustrating the unpredictable nature of this sector of the global derivatives industry.

The number one rule is: “The trend is your friend,” said Babbage, who owns a racehorse named Delta Hedge. And number two: “Harry Hindsight is the best trader in the market.

“Corrections are sharper than the underlying trend – and most long-term positions were originally short-term positions that went wrong.”

In this business, it is the events that cannot be predicted that have the biggest impact on your positions, said Babbage, and the most important attribute to have is flexible thinking.

Notable events that have hit his positions over the past few years include the coup in Russia in 1991, during which dollar/Deutschmark was trading with a 200 point spread.

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