{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Falphaexchange.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fclosing-thoughts-on-2025-Nu7Uf1zO","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Closing Thoughts on 2025","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/1f4671ad-c08e-4d33-affe-576e0f8c1d66/819ff055-1d73-4c26-a162-7dae36cfa8d1/1542210926artwork.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"As I share my closing thoughts on 2025, I want to look back with an eye towards pointing out this year’s unique characteristics from a market risk perspective. I start this exercise by highlighting what I consider to be 2025’s three most interesting days from a vol and risk perspective: 1) the April 7th roller-coaster in the VIX  2) the September 10th surge in ORCL and  3) the October 21st melt-down in the GLD. Each of these helps us better understand some of the forces at work in today’s market. Next, I explore two important themes and their implications. First, the “stock up, vol up” dynamic that is increasingly common among stocks, even mega-caps. Here, the market assigns a higher implied volatility when pricing options on stocks that have often surged in value. It speaks to FOMO and a winner-take-all notion in which stocks are often treated as options. Second, I discuss the incredibly low level of both realized and implied correlation among stocks in the SPX. I consider this a risk hiding in plain sight and something that may be leading investors to underestimate the true level of risk they are taking.\n\nI thank you for being a listener this year and wish you a fantastic 2026."}