#763 - Is Volatility A Good Measure Of Risk?
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Description
Hey everyone. This is Kirk here again from Option Alpha and welcome back to the daily call. Today, we’re going to answer the question, “Is volatility a good measure of risk?” We’ve recently actually said in our covered calls paper when we were writing up the research that volatility is but one side of a two-sided coin. There’s returns in our opinion and then there’s volatility and those are the two sides of the coin that you should be aware of as a trader. Volatility is just one way to measure risk. It should not be the only way to measure risk. It should be looked at in conjunction with a bunch of other risk metrics like win rate, returns, sharp ratios, ortina(?) ratios, calma(?) ratios, etcetera. It’s another way to measure risk. But generally, even though something has high volatility, means that it just moves a lot, that’s all it means. It means that it just moves a lot. As long as you’re compensated for that movement, it should generally be acceptable. Now, if you’re looking at two different investments, one has high volatility and one has low volatility and they both have the same return, well, obviously, you’re going to choose the one with lower volatility and the same return because just volatility in and of itself does not necessarily mean that something is good, bad or indifferent. It’s again, another metric to use when measuring the risk and the return and the possible viability of an investment strategy. Is volatility a good measure of risk? It’s definitely one we use. It’s definitely one you should look at. I’m not saying by any stretch, you should overlook volatility. It’s one you should focus on, but it’s not the end-all be-all. It’s should be looked at in conjunction with everything else. Hopefully this helps out. As always, if you guys have any questions, let us know and until next time, happy trading.
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