Global Equity Volatility Insights: Lookbackmaxxing for a smarter AI hedge

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Global Equity Volatility Insights: Lookbackmaxxing for a smarter AI hedge

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Global Equity Volatility Insights

Lookbackmaxxing for a smarter AI hedge

Lookback puts look like ideal hedge for rising bubble risks 12 May 2026

Historic upside momentum in US tech stocks has powered the Nasdaq to 12 fresh all- Equity Derivatives

time highs over the past month, generated near record up vs down realized vol, and Global

pushed our Bubble Risk Indicator on US tech closer to the 0.8 threshold – further

evidence we are living in “The Bubble Era”. In a runaway market exposed to persistent

threats, protecting downside with fixed-strike hedges can be difficult given strike &

timing risk. Vol-based hedges are compelling in this environment, as long equity + long

vol have worked well recently, and 15x payout VIX call spreads offer limited risk, long vol

exposure. Alternatively, structures like QQQ expanding put spreads automatically re-

strike protection higher as markets rally (at prior max) just like a lookback put and are Global Equity Derivatives Rsch

BofAS

better-suited for high-trend markets (like today or the ‘90s dotcom bubble). They are

Arjun Goyal

better than vanilla hedges for mitigating strike & timing risk (requires only ~8% QQQ Equity-Linked Analyst

draw-up by Dec to beat vanilla puts, which is in bottom decile of draw-ups since 2023). BofAS

Lars Naeckter >>

Onward to resolution? EU upside & VSTOXX downside Equity-LinkedMerrill Lynch (DIFC)Analyst

Financial markets continue to look through episodic setbacks in US-Iran negotiations, Riddhi Prasad >>

with muted Brent (vs crisis highs), resilient European equities and a normalized VIX all Equity-Linked Analyst

MLI (UK)

pointing to a fading of geopolitical risk. We highlight opportunities for a further