​Daily Bulletin: Wednesday March 25

Listed options activity was subdued on Wednesday morning but had gathered pace by the afternoon with sizeable flow in the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund. The former saw put spread trading in March and April, while the latter saw a hefty put seller in June-15 contracts. In our commentary section today, we report on how the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) is putting in place a low vol and covered call program in an effort to maintain equity exposure with less risk.In Europe, with 50-year euro swap rates yielding below 1% and nearly a third of outstanding bonds providing negative yield, market participants expect the ratio of long-term European dividend swaps versus spot becoming the next to be hit, resulting in dividend yields moving lower. In People & Firms, Stifel has hired two equity derivatives salesmen in New York. Also, don’t forget to sign up for Global EQD 2015, a two-day gathering of the top equity and volatility derivative buysiders, asset owners and sellsiders. Speakers include Bryan Pinsky at AIG, Kent Voss at Koch Industries, Kevin Duggan at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Scott Maidel at Russell Investments and Ken Kwalik in the Investment Management Division, Goldman Sachs. Sign up at www.eqderivatives.com/events