Microstrategy's real game is gamma not delta
Resumo
TLDRThe video delves into investment strategies on both the buy and sell sides, emphasizing the approach to buy-side modeling using Canadian apartment REITs. A significant portion concentrates on explaining convertible bond strategies, particularly involving MicroStrategy stocks. It underscores the mechanism of gamma trading, where investors gain from volatility rather than the direction of stock prices. The presenter critiques the interplay between MicroStrategy's business acts, their convertible bonds, and the implications of market inefficiencies. They highlight the risks for regular investors misunderstanding the volatility-focused game played by seasoned bondholders and its impact on share value. The commentary suggests that the financial narrative presented by MicroStrategy involves feeding shareholder misinformation while harnessing market inefficiencies for bondholder benefits, warning of volatility decline leading to stock price collapses.
ConclusΓ΅es
- π Buy-side modeling involves analyzing a vast number of stocks, unlike sell-side modeling.
- π’ Canadian apartment REITs are used to demonstrate buy-side stock picking techniques.
- π Gamma trading exploits price volatility rather than relying solely on market direction.
- πΌ Convertible bonds can be used by investors to benefit from high volatility, as seen with MicroStrategy shares.
- π€ MicroStrategy's stock strategies seem complex, involving misinformation to shareholders.
- π« Decline in volatility can lead to drastic reductions in stock prices, affecting shareholders adversely.
- π² Bondholders take advantage of low-interest convertible bonds for market gains.
- π The short rebate plays a crucial role in convertible bond profitability.
- π Market inefficiencies are exploited through straightforward arbitrage strategies.
- π§Ύ Convertible bondholders capitalize on being senior to equity in asset claims.
Linha do tempo
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
Summary of key differences between buy-side and sell-side modeling, focusing on Canadian apartment REITs for stock picking; future video on options and gamma trading with convertible bonds; new course sections and subscription discounts starting January 15th.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Discussion of incoming aggressive comments from audience on convertible bonds and market strategy, transition of audience reaction from scoffs to anger due to losing money; explanation of delta trading risks and improper game analogy.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
Explanation of convertible arbitrage involving long positions in senior security and short positions in junior security; emphasis on volatility as a key factor, with convertible bonds having low coupon rates due to high volatility, and potential forced conversion situation.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
Insight into motivations for convertible bondholders, debunking beliefs about conversion feature importance; providing example of market inefficiency trades between Bitcoin and micro strategy based on volatility disparities.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
Details on how convertible bondholders profit through volatility trading, short rebates, and embedded call options' convexity; understanding the significance of gamma trading in such financial positions and the safety from Bitcoin's fluctuating value.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
Further clarification on gamma trading mechanics, including the systematic trading approach to cover market movements and convertibles' positioning strategy; debunking shareholder's misconception about bondholders wanting share conversions.
- 00:30:00 - 00:35:00
Potential outcomes for convertible bond scenarios, highlighting market positions' safety the volatility provides, alongside an evaluation of capital preservation tactics for bondholders using over-collateralization strategies.
- 00:35:00 - 00:41:32
Final analysis of MicroStrategy's operational model as a mechanism to sell volatility and maintain stock price through engineered volatility, deceptive shareholder strategies, and the ongoing issuance of equity and convertible bonds to sustain the financial game.
Mapa mental
VΓdeo de perguntas e respostas
What is the difference between buy-side and sell-side modeling?
Sell-side modeling covers a smaller universe of stocks, while buy-side has to analyze hundreds. The video uses Canadian apartment REITs for illustration.
What is gamma trading?
Gamma trading involves benefiting from price volatility rather than price direction, often using convertible bonds or options.
Why do bondholders participate in buying MicroStrategy's convertible bonds?
Bondholders benefit from the high price volatility associated with MicroStrategy's stock, which offers opportunities for gamma trading.
What is the role of a Delta Trader in the video?
Delta Traders focus on buying shares with the expectation of a price increase, but may not understand the underlying volatility-driven games played by the bondholders.
How do convertible bonds make money from volatility?
Convertible bondholders capitalize on the price swings of underlyng securities without concern for their actual market value.
What are the implications of declining volatility on MicroStrategy's stock?
If volatility decreases, the support for high stock prices could collapse, leading to potential financial trouble for equity investors.
Why is the short rebate mentioned in the context of convertible bonds?
The short rebate refers to the interest bondholders earn from short selling stock, contributing to their earnings from the overall strategy.
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Why Is Life So Full of Suffering? β Bishop Barronβs Sunday Sermon
- 00:00:00[Music]
- 00:00:06okay before we head in this week uh few
- 00:00:08notes for the applied level tomorrow uh
- 00:00:11is week one for buy side modeling uh
- 00:00:14here we're going to use apartment reats
- 00:00:16specifically out of Canada buy side uh
- 00:00:19modeling includes uh first of all stock
- 00:00:22picking uh then a deeper dive we'll see
- 00:00:24how that is done there is a difference
- 00:00:26between sell-side modeling and buy side
- 00:00:29modeling
- 00:00:30uh the sell side usually has a small
- 00:00:33Universe buy side has to go through
- 00:00:35hundreds of stocks right how do we get
- 00:00:37that done we'll use Canadian apartment
- 00:00:39reats uh to get that done or apartment
- 00:00:42reats in Canada I don't want to say
- 00:00:43Canadian apartment reats because that's
- 00:00:44a name of a reat also uh tomorrow in the
- 00:00:47applied options folder uh in the
- 00:00:50volatility folder I will put up a video
- 00:00:54on gamma trading uh on micro strategy
- 00:00:56shares which is the game that is being
- 00:00:58played by the convertible Bond holders
- 00:01:00you should know uh how they play the
- 00:01:02game you can play the game too I'll show
- 00:01:04you how although it's not for the faint
- 00:01:07of heart um January 15th uh the applied
- 00:01:11level is splitting into two sections
- 00:01:13applied analysis and applied Asset
- 00:01:15Management 425 each this begins January
- 00:01:1815th if you have CFA level one standing
- 00:01:20you get $100 off each one if you are a
- 00:01:23mark melon.com subscriber you get
- 00:01:25another 50 off so you're down to 275 on
- 00:01:29on uh on on each one uh for um uh for
- 00:01:34each of these I will most likely uh
- 00:01:36extend this discount the $100 discount
- 00:01:40if you have any frm standing or any CIA
- 00:01:44standing um we do have an frm
- 00:01:47subscription on our site uh it this may
- 00:01:50also apply to you I don't know but I
- 00:01:53probably will extend the $100 discount
- 00:01:55if you have any standing in frm or
- 00:01:58CIA uh starting uh January 15th these
- 00:02:01are one-year subscriptions so uh from
- 00:02:04January 15th to January 15th of the next
- 00:02:06year you get access to the entire
- 00:02:08content plus any new content I put up as
- 00:02:11of this date uh you have access forever
- 00:02:14except you uh the new content uh would
- 00:02:17no longer get added but whatever you
- 00:02:19have as of this date you would have um
- 00:02:22if you want new content after that it's
- 00:02:24a $25 uh a month recurring fee uh after
- 00:02:28that to continually get new content
- 00:02:30um the um January 14th uh will be the
- 00:02:34end of the applied level at 440 or 320
- 00:02:37320 is the $100 uh sorry the 120 off if
- 00:02:41you have um CFA level standing uh all
- 00:02:45subs up to January 15th you will have
- 00:02:48lifetime access no further fees uh which
- 00:02:50means you'll always continue to get the
- 00:02:52new stuff forever and ever it will never
- 00:02:54end uh and if you um um are in before
- 00:02:59the price prices change you're good none
- 00:03:01of this applies to you after that then
- 00:03:03yes uh this is the uh the new series
- 00:03:06because um a significant amount of value
- 00:03:09has been added to the applied level at
- 00:03:11this point that uh this price just
- 00:03:14doesn't reflect uh doesn't reflect the
- 00:03:16sheer amount of value that's in there
- 00:03:18now okay uh let's head in last week I
- 00:03:22talked about uh micro strategy I'm going
- 00:03:24to continue it on this week but we're
- 00:03:26going to go into uh detail about what
- 00:03:30the convertible bonds are doing some of
- 00:03:33the comments uh left under the video
- 00:03:36last week and just as an aside the
- 00:03:39comments were were interesting if you
- 00:03:42watched the evolution of the comments
- 00:03:44throughout the week uh I put the video
- 00:03:47up uh on Monday and I mostly got scoffs
- 00:03:52you know
- 00:03:54hahhaa uh you keep making comments and
- 00:03:57we'll keep making money and nobody was
- 00:03:59was really rude just sort of laughing at
- 00:04:02you because they thought you didn't
- 00:04:04understand what was going on and you're
- 00:04:05missing the boat and but by the end of
- 00:04:08the week the comments had turned nasty
- 00:04:11uh and angry and a lot of name calling I
- 00:04:14had to block one person who just was
- 00:04:16just right angry I think they were Irish
- 00:04:19just by the uh the the words that they
- 00:04:22used but I had to block one person cuz
- 00:04:24just they were just angry you don't get
- 00:04:26that angry without losing money and by
- 00:04:28the end of the week people were losing
- 00:04:30money on this and they were just angry
- 00:04:32at anybody who wasn't saying things they
- 00:04:34already agreed with any anybody who is
- 00:04:36critical of this uh they just got angry
- 00:04:39with like just sheer sheer rage
- 00:04:43sometimes it was interesting to see the
- 00:04:46uh the the change in tone throughout the
- 00:04:48week as micro strategy took a big dump
- 00:04:50last week uh but let's understand
- 00:04:53convertible Arbitrage and what the bond
- 00:04:56holders are doing when we understand
- 00:04:59what the bond holders are doing will
- 00:05:01understand the game a lot better and you
- 00:05:03will see that if you are a Delta Trader
- 00:05:05Delta Trader meaning that you buy uh
- 00:05:09shares and you want the price to go up
- 00:05:12now see that if you're a Delta Trader
- 00:05:14you're playing a random game so that you
- 00:05:17will uh over the uh uh next uh little
- 00:05:21while I don't know how long this will
- 00:05:23last you will make money then you will
- 00:05:25give it back and you will make money and
- 00:05:27you will give it back and you will make
- 00:05:28money and make maybe you'll blow up
- 00:05:30maybe you won't blow up but uh you won't
- 00:05:34keep a lot of the money you make because
- 00:05:36you won't understand the game that's
- 00:05:38being played you're you're thinking that
- 00:05:41you're playing basketball uh but you're
- 00:05:44playing basketball on a soccer field so
- 00:05:47every time you pick up the ball the
- 00:05:48whistle blows you get a penalty and you
- 00:05:49can't understand why because that's what
- 00:05:51you're supposed to do in basketball but
- 00:05:54again you're playing the wrong game
- 00:05:56let's deal with convertible AR it's a
- 00:05:58type of capital structure are and what
- 00:06:01it relies on is in the capital structure
- 00:06:03you have senior and Junior Securities
- 00:06:05usually involves a long position in a
- 00:06:07senior security and a short position in
- 00:06:10a junior security um what makes the
- 00:06:13convertible Bond attractive is it has a
- 00:06:16call option in here so you can Delta
- 00:06:18hedge the junior security so that you're
- 00:06:21long AB Bond and you are delta neutral
- 00:06:24uh you're delta neutral but uh you uh
- 00:06:27have positive gamma uh which is what
- 00:06:30you're doing you're gamma trading um the
- 00:06:33biggest reason uh for uh for the
- 00:06:36convertible Bond holders being here is
- 00:06:38to take advantage of volatility in fact
- 00:06:41with convertible debt this is the most
- 00:06:43common reason for convertible debt
- 00:06:46because with convertible debt you're
- 00:06:47getting almost 0% interest usually very
- 00:06:50low coupon the last convertible debt
- 00:06:53Microsoft uh Microsoft micro strategy
- 00:06:56sold had 0% coupon only because they
- 00:06:58have such high
- 00:07:00volatility uh so uh you do have a
- 00:07:03conversion uh factor in here that
- 00:07:05converts to a number of shares the
- 00:07:08belief is that that means something and
- 00:07:10some of the comments last week were why
- 00:07:12would large
- 00:07:14institutions uh uh be interested in
- 00:07:16getting exposure to micro strategy
- 00:07:18shares this way if they didn't believe
- 00:07:19in it well they don't care about the
- 00:07:23conversion uh a feature uh the
- 00:07:25conversion is more of a penalty they
- 00:07:28they would rather it not convert while
- 00:07:30volatility is high most most convertible
- 00:07:34bonds have a clause called a forced
- 00:07:37conversion meaning that if the shares
- 00:07:40are a certain percentage above the
- 00:07:42conversion price for a certain number of
- 00:07:45days the company can call the bonds at
- 00:07:48par which forces the bond holder to
- 00:07:51convert because they would lose money uh
- 00:07:54and once they convert it's like oh well
- 00:07:55it's over they'd be very willing to uh
- 00:07:58do more convertible bonds to get back
- 00:08:00into the volatility game so the the
- 00:08:04conversion price is is is uh not
- 00:08:07important what is important is the Delta
- 00:08:10on the call what initial Delta do you
- 00:08:13want on the call and the higher the
- 00:08:14volatility the higher the conversion
- 00:08:17price can be for a given Delta so they
- 00:08:19say well let's start with a Delta of
- 00:08:2104 on the call that will set the
- 00:08:24conversion price right because this is
- 00:08:27this is what they're interested in here
- 00:08:28not not the conversion price the
- 00:08:30conversion price actually is more of a
- 00:08:32penalty they they really don't want the
- 00:08:34shares uh it's to take advantage of
- 00:08:37volatility another motivation is to take
- 00:08:39advantage of Market
- 00:08:41inefficiency uh that is a mispricing
- 00:08:43between Securities in the same company
- 00:08:46it's hard to say that you have a
- 00:08:47mispricing inse Securities in the same
- 00:08:50company what you can say is you have a
- 00:08:52mispricing between the equity and
- 00:08:54Bitcoin uh that the uh value of the
- 00:08:57equity being 300 and at one point last
- 00:09:00week over 400 times the price of Bitcoin
- 00:09:04you could say well that's an
- 00:09:05inefficiency but that's a cross asset
- 00:09:07ARB that's not a capital structure ARB
- 00:09:09that would be a long
- 00:09:11Bitcoin uh short micro strategy trade uh
- 00:09:15and you would short it uh on a
- 00:09:17volatility relative basis so if the
- 00:09:20volatility of Bitcoin I'm going to make
- 00:09:22up numbers okay I'm just making it up
- 00:09:23out of thin air to to to give my example
- 00:09:26so if you're going to leave a comment
- 00:09:28saying oh that's not the volatility of
- 00:09:29Bitcoin I'm just making numbers up out
- 00:09:31of thin air here let's say the
- 00:09:33volatility of Bitcoin was 50% let's say
- 00:09:35the volatility of micro strategy was
- 00:09:38150% you would go long $30 of Bitcoin
- 00:09:41and short $10 of micro strategy stock
- 00:09:44you would do it uh such that you were
- 00:09:47volatility as as volatility neutral in
- 00:09:50your long and short positions as
- 00:09:51possible so that is an ARB trade uh from
- 00:09:55Bitcoin to micro strategy shares for
- 00:09:57market inefficiency and account capital
- 00:09:59structure the uh convertible Bond would
- 00:10:02have to be mispriced based on where the
- 00:10:04stock is and where the conversion
- 00:10:06feature is that's really not a
- 00:10:07motivation here this is it right here
- 00:10:10take advantage uh of volatility what
- 00:10:13provides the volatility for micro
- 00:10:16strategy Shares are a combination of two
- 00:10:19things number one is that you do have
- 00:10:21shares that are trading at a ridiculous
- 00:10:24premium to its net asset
- 00:10:26value uh and you have a store story that
- 00:10:29you can feed uh potential traders of the
- 00:10:33stock that they buy into that story uh
- 00:10:36and you convince them that they're
- 00:10:37playing basketball even though you know
- 00:10:40this is a soccer field you convince them
- 00:10:42that they're playing
- 00:10:44basketball well talk more about that on
- 00:10:46the next screen let's look at how
- 00:10:48convertible Bond uh holders make money
- 00:10:51if they don't really care about the
- 00:10:53stock price and they don't care about
- 00:10:54the conversion uh factor and they don't
- 00:10:57care about the Bitcoin which they don't
- 00:10:59they really don't they only care about
- 00:11:01the Bitcoin in as much as it provides
- 00:11:03credit
- 00:11:04protection um how do they make money uh
- 00:11:07these are the last bonds they issued
- 00:11:09were 0%
- 00:11:11convertible uh which means there is no
- 00:11:13coupon if if the there was a coupon if
- 00:11:17anything greater than 0% they do they do
- 00:11:19make the coupon albeit it would be low
- 00:11:21they would make the coupon the lower the
- 00:11:24volatility of the stock the higher the
- 00:11:27coupon would be because that's what they
- 00:11:30want they they're not interested in the
- 00:11:32conversion in fact they'd rather it not
- 00:11:34convert for as long as possible they're
- 00:11:37interested in the volatility so if micro
- 00:11:39strategy can deliver very high
- 00:11:42volatility they can get to 0% uh other
- 00:11:45companies that have convertible debt
- 00:11:47have you sometimes you'll see a0 5%
- 00:11:49coupon maybe a 1% coupon
- 00:11:526.25% the lower the volatility the
- 00:11:55higher the coupon would be so if you can
- 00:11:57deliver very high volatility you can get
- 00:11:590% money uh if there is any premium uh
- 00:12:03the bond holders are going to get the
- 00:12:05coupon and they need pull to par uh the
- 00:12:07pull to par can be positive or negative
- 00:12:10that's if the price at which they issued
- 00:12:12the bond does not equal uh its face
- 00:12:14value they would get something there
- 00:12:17this is the big money here uh with the
- 00:12:19volatility yield being the really big
- 00:12:21one this is nice right here the short
- 00:12:23rebate so to say there is no coupon
- 00:12:25there really there kind of is a coupon
- 00:12:29so let's say that uh the convertible
- 00:12:31Bond was issued and they negotiated a
- 00:12:34Delta of
- 00:12:3504 uh on the call on the embedded call
- 00:12:40uh whatever uh black schs Merton would
- 00:12:42spit out you'd put in whatever the
- 00:12:44implied volatility is the risk-free rate
- 00:12:47uh it will spit out a uh a strike price
- 00:12:49there's your conversion there's the uh
- 00:12:52conversion price on that strike to equal
- 00:12:55the Delta uh that they want uh for every
- 00:12:58th
- 00:13:00in bonds they'll be short $400 in micro
- 00:13:03strategy shares that $400 earns the
- 00:13:06overnight rate so they are getting a
- 00:13:08coupon uh uh on on the proceeds of the
- 00:13:11short sale because they are uh long uh
- 00:13:15point4 Delta and now they're short
- 00:13:17point4 Delta so their Delta equals
- 00:13:20zero uh on this one uh but their gamma
- 00:13:23is greater than zero that's what they
- 00:13:25want is the gamma greater than zero but
- 00:13:27the Delta equal to zero and of course
- 00:13:29they are along a bond that is
- 00:13:32collateralized by the Bitcoin senior
- 00:13:35unsecured yes butd senior to equity
- 00:13:39which means they're first in line to all
- 00:13:41the assets all that Bitcoin belongs to
- 00:13:44them and I'll talk about enhanced credit
- 00:13:47features uh that micro strategy provides
- 00:13:50that is being sold to you as a feature
- 00:13:53but it's not a feature for you it's a
- 00:13:55feature for the bond holders so the
- 00:13:57short proceeds we'll get the over rate
- 00:13:59less any dividends that are paid uh most
- 00:14:02often the Dividends are zero companies
- 00:14:04that issue convertible uh debt usually
- 00:14:06don't have dividends so there usually
- 00:14:08are no dividends so you you would have a
- 00:14:11borrow fee whatever the the the fee is
- 00:14:14to borrow the shares the fee to borrow
- 00:14:17the shares would be very high if the
- 00:14:21float was low the fee to borrow the
- 00:14:24shares would be lower if the float were
- 00:14:26higher so how you get a very low fee on
- 00:14:30borrowing the shares is I don't know
- 00:14:32split your stock 10 times and and you'll
- 00:14:35have a whole bunch of shares out there
- 00:14:38uh and it will the size of the float the
- 00:14:40larger the float the more widely it's
- 00:14:43held the more liquidity in it the lower
- 00:14:45the borrow the borrow rate would be so
- 00:14:47it would be helpful if the company had a
- 00:14:49large float if it doesn't it can always
- 00:14:51do a 10 times uh a 10 a 10 for One
- 00:14:54reverse
- 00:14:56split I wonder if that sounds familiar
- 00:14:58to anybody anyways they get this then
- 00:15:00they get a volatility yield this is the
- 00:15:02big one because the call has
- 00:15:05convexity um I drew this out wrong let
- 00:15:08me let me redraw this it's the right
- 00:15:11shape I just drew it in the wrong place
- 00:15:13anybody from level three who has been
- 00:15:15through the first two readings of the
- 00:15:17fixed
- 00:15:18income uh readings um for
- 00:15:22immunization will understand the role of
- 00:15:24convexity in a
- 00:15:26portfolio uh let's do what oops let me
- 00:15:29try to draw this out a little bit better
- 00:15:31here there we go there is
- 00:15:35convexity um and let's say that uh this
- 00:15:38is the current share price uh right now
- 00:15:41uh and we'll just draw out vertical here
- 00:15:44there's the share price if the share
- 00:15:46price doesn't move uh convexity is
- 00:15:49actually a bad thing because you're
- 00:15:50paying for convexity you'll
- 00:15:53underperform uh when you have convexity
- 00:15:55you want things to move this is this is
- 00:15:58the benefit of having convexity in a
- 00:16:00bond portfolio if you're immunizing a
- 00:16:02stream of
- 00:16:03liabilities and you expect uh volatility
- 00:16:07to increase what would you do to your
- 00:16:09bond portfolio for the same
- 00:16:11duration you would attempt to increase
- 00:16:14the convexity of that portfolio so that
- 00:16:16it would outperform whether rates went
- 00:16:18up or whether whether yields went up or
- 00:16:20whether yields went down you would
- 00:16:21outperform the Benchmark The Benchmark
- 00:16:23being the liabilities right same thing
- 00:16:26applies
- 00:16:27here uh the convertible Bond holder is
- 00:16:30long the bond plus a call uh the bond
- 00:16:33plus call will increase in value more
- 00:16:35than the short position if you are
- 00:16:37originally delta neutral and the price
- 00:16:40really went up uh the bond plus the call
- 00:16:43option would outperform the short
- 00:16:44position and you make money uh if it
- 00:16:47really went down the bond plus the call
- 00:16:50will decrease by less than the short
- 00:16:52position you will make money now you
- 00:16:55understand what the convertible Bond
- 00:16:56holder likes about micro strategy
- 00:16:59is if you want a gamma trade you need
- 00:17:03volatility the more volatility the more
- 00:17:07profitable the trade becomes you need
- 00:17:09volatility you don't care if the price
- 00:17:11goes up you don't care if the price goes
- 00:17:13down the convertible bond is the
- 00:17:16mechanism by which you can set up the
- 00:17:18trade without the convertible Bond you
- 00:17:20can still do it with call options in the
- 00:17:22market just it's a lot more it's a lot
- 00:17:24more work to get
- 00:17:26done um the bond gives you all all all
- 00:17:30the uh leverage that you want so if I
- 00:17:33got to pay a billion dollars uh for the
- 00:17:36bond and I get 400 million on the short
- 00:17:40sale I'm really only out 600 million at
- 00:17:43that point am I not right uh and if the
- 00:17:47price of the shares go up the Delta of
- 00:17:50the call will go up I will short more so
- 00:17:53then at some point I'll be short 500
- 00:17:55million I'm really only out 500 million
- 00:17:57at that point so you can see that I'm
- 00:18:00getting a little bit of Leverage uh in
- 00:18:02there as well so this is this is the
- 00:18:05game being
- 00:18:06played okay so let's get uh to what this
- 00:18:09would mean for the
- 00:18:11shareholder um here is a replication of
- 00:18:14what I had on the last screen and yeah
- 00:18:16it should look like
- 00:18:18this uh if we're going to draw it out
- 00:18:20right and this is the price increasing
- 00:18:23this is the price
- 00:18:24decreasing and the convertible Bond
- 00:18:27holders are gamma Trading Delta trading
- 00:18:30means that you're trading the change in
- 00:18:32the share price in it's a directional
- 00:18:35trade either you have positive Delta and
- 00:18:38you want the price to go up or you have
- 00:18:41negative Delta and you want the price to
- 00:18:43go down gamma trading is you just want
- 00:18:46the Delta to change you don't really
- 00:18:48care if it goes up or goes down you
- 00:18:50you're agnostic about the price move
- 00:18:53what you want is a price move and a
- 00:18:55significant price move the other thing
- 00:18:57the uh convertible bonds want um because
- 00:19:01if they don't
- 00:19:03convert the uh face value has to be paid
- 00:19:06back at maturity the bond holders will
- 00:19:09go okay well give us our money back now
- 00:19:12you're going to need some kind of credit
- 00:19:14protection because at the heart of micro
- 00:19:17strategy is a money losing software
- 00:19:19business it doesn't generate the money
- 00:19:21to pay back these bonds so what is there
- 00:19:24to pay it back it's the Bitcoin you
- 00:19:26would have to sell the Bitcoin but what
- 00:19:28happens if the price of Bitcoin drops
- 00:19:31remember now uh I gave you a billion
- 00:19:33dollars and you went and bought Bitcoin
- 00:19:35but you're not buying a billion dollars
- 00:19:37of Bitcoin because there's a leak here
- 00:19:39right usually about
- 00:19:401% uh in underwriting fees you got about
- 00:19:431% so you're not really buying 100%
- 00:19:46you're only buying 99% of the value in
- 00:19:49Bitcoin uh but what if Bitcoin drops
- 00:19:5110% I'm I'm kind of I'm kind of in
- 00:19:54trouble so I would like you to over
- 00:19:56collateralize if you can is there any
- 00:19:58way that you can double the amount of
- 00:20:00Bitcoin that you have well okay what we
- 00:20:03can do is issue Equity at the same time
- 00:20:06uh that in the same quantity we're
- 00:20:08issuing convertible
- 00:20:09debt uh is micro strategy doing
- 00:20:12something like that uh yeah they uh
- 00:20:15their 42 plan is 21 billion in
- 00:20:18convertible bonds and 21 billion in
- 00:20:20equity and the this is to collateralize
- 00:20:24to um to offer credit protection for the
- 00:20:28convert able bonds yes they're unsecured
- 00:20:31that's not the word the word is senior
- 00:20:33they're senior to uh equity which is
- 00:20:35Junior so all of that Bitcoin belongs to
- 00:20:37the bond holders so if this all falls
- 00:20:40apart all that Bitcoin belongs to them
- 00:20:42they sell it off if there's anything
- 00:20:44left you guys can get it so let's look
- 00:20:47at uh how this works out let's start
- 00:20:49with a uh delta neutral position you
- 00:20:52bought $1
- 00:20:54billion of uh convertible bonds from
- 00:20:57micro strategy uh and you have a call
- 00:21:00and let's say the Delta of the call
- 00:21:03is4 and based on the volatility it sets
- 00:21:06the conversion price or the strike price
- 00:21:08but you have 04 you will immediately a
- 00:21:11short 400 million of micro strategy
- 00:21:14stock because you are basically long 400
- 00:21:18million on the call you're delta neutral
- 00:21:21but you have gamma in the uh in the uh
- 00:21:24option uh but the short position has no
- 00:21:27gamma right it has a consistent Delta
- 00:21:30the Delta will not change but the Delta
- 00:21:32here will change by uh the rate gamma
- 00:21:35measures the rate of change in Delta so
- 00:21:37you are delta neutral to begin with if
- 00:21:39the price then goes up the Delta on this
- 00:21:44will go up you'll sell more shares at
- 00:21:46higher prices so uh you will outperform
- 00:21:49and you will uh the value of your
- 00:21:52portfolio will be higher that day yay we
- 00:21:54made money let's get delta neutral again
- 00:21:57uh so you will short more shares but
- 00:21:59notice you're shorting shares on the way
- 00:22:00up watch what happens when when the
- 00:22:03price goes down uh and we'll just jump
- 00:22:05to that now if the price drops the Delta
- 00:22:08will drop you will cover shares at lower
- 00:22:11prices so uh you'll
- 00:22:13outperform on the fact that you have
- 00:22:15convexity and you'll be covering the
- 00:22:17shares that you shorted at the higher
- 00:22:19price at the lower price thank you very
- 00:22:22much um if the price of micro strategy
- 00:22:27uh is greater than than the conversion
- 00:22:29price uh the Delta on the call will
- 00:22:32start to approach one as the price keeps
- 00:22:35going up and up and up and up and up and
- 00:22:37up the Delta on that call will start
- 00:22:39approaching one and since you're selling
- 00:22:41more shares on the way up the short
- 00:22:43Position will equal the conversion
- 00:22:46position so that when the shares are
- 00:22:48delivered to the bond holders it
- 00:22:50basically just covers a short position
- 00:22:52they end up with zero
- 00:22:54position so the belief that the bond
- 00:22:56holders are in this because they want
- 00:22:58the shares no they do not they do not
- 00:23:01want the shares they specifically do not
- 00:23:04want the shares once the shares are
- 00:23:07converted and assigned to them it
- 00:23:08basically just covers their short
- 00:23:10position so there is a built-in cover uh
- 00:23:13they're not interested in the shares the
- 00:23:14new shares simply just dilute the
- 00:23:16existing shareholders the bond holders
- 00:23:19don't suffer anything on this the uh
- 00:23:21existing shareholders suffer all the
- 00:23:24downside you cannot have a situation
- 00:23:27where you have an asset does that
- 00:23:29doesn't create an income stream but
- 00:23:31somehow Bond holders make money
- 00:23:32shareholders make money management
- 00:23:34everybody makes money from something
- 00:23:36that doesn't produce an income stream
- 00:23:38this is a zero sum game which means for
- 00:23:40somebody to make money here somebody has
- 00:23:42to lose money that's the
- 00:23:44shareholders uh if the price of the uh
- 00:23:47micro strategy Shares are below the
- 00:23:49conversion price uh and they keep
- 00:23:52dropping below the conversion price the
- 00:23:54Delta will approach zero the convertible
- 00:23:57Bond becomes a straight bond which is
- 00:23:59senior to the equity which means it has
- 00:24:03a first claim on all the Bitcoin of
- 00:24:04which the equity bought half the Bitcoin
- 00:24:06thank you very much for the collateral
- 00:24:09protection uh it'll approach the
- 00:24:11straight Bond the question I have and I
- 00:24:15don't have an answer for this is uh for
- 00:24:18convertible um uh for convertible Bond
- 00:24:21Traders sometimes they have a floor um
- 00:24:24under which they won't hedge by that I
- 00:24:27mean they may decide that their floor on
- 00:24:29hedging is
- 00:24:31uh3 that uh if the Delta of uh the call
- 00:24:35drops to 02 and 0.1 they will not change
- 00:24:38from 3 and that is another form of
- 00:24:41credit protection what that is saying is
- 00:24:43that if if there's going to be a default
- 00:24:46on the bond the short position provided
- 00:24:48at least 30% 30% downside so if this
- 00:24:51whole thing collapses uh and the shares
- 00:24:54go to zero and all the Bitcoin go to the
- 00:24:56bond holders the bond holders at least
- 00:24:58on their short position have 30% of
- 00:25:01their face value covered they may have a
- 00:25:04floor I don't know if anybody uh knows
- 00:25:08uh how how they would be trading that go
- 00:25:11ahead and leave a comment the typical uh
- 00:25:15um amount is 0.5 typically uh you
- 00:25:19wouldn't hedge below a 0.5 but this is a
- 00:25:22unique situation with very high
- 00:25:25volatility I don't know if they would
- 00:25:27even play with the floor or not being
- 00:25:30that the Bitcoin is uh they're issuing
- 00:25:34Equity uh to add Bitcoin to the balance
- 00:25:36sheet so that there's two times the
- 00:25:38amount of Bitcoin versus the value of
- 00:25:40the
- 00:25:41debt Bitcoin would have to fall by 50%
- 00:25:45before it threatens the bond holders
- 00:25:47that might be enough that might be
- 00:25:49enough uh uh collateral in there without
- 00:25:52having to worry about this but there
- 00:25:54still might be a floor to the downside I
- 00:25:56don't know that's uh that would be
- 00:25:58interesting if anyone uh knew uh what
- 00:26:00that
- 00:26:02was um here's the best outcome for
- 00:26:05everybody involved how when I say for
- 00:26:07everybody involved it's the best outcome
- 00:26:09uh for the shareholders as well if you
- 00:26:11want to keep this game alive is uh you
- 00:26:13have uh what big price spring uh swings
- 00:26:17you don't really care what direction the
- 00:26:19market price is not critical volatility
- 00:26:21is this will keep the convertible Bond
- 00:26:23holders in the game so I'm just going to
- 00:26:26erase some stuff so I can uh out a few
- 00:26:29charts uh for you uh so
- 00:26:33this uh price doing this is okay as long
- 00:26:35as it does
- 00:26:37this a price doing this is okay as long
- 00:26:40as it does this and a price doing this
- 00:26:42is okay as long as it does this what we
- 00:26:45don't want to see is volatility start to
- 00:26:48do this and even if the price is going
- 00:26:50up like this but volatility disappears
- 00:26:53like this the game is over because the
- 00:26:56output which is vol volatility is gone
- 00:27:00it would be like me still showing up to
- 00:27:02your restaurant and you saying oh we're
- 00:27:03out of food we don't s serve food
- 00:27:05anymore but come on in and pay and just
- 00:27:08pay an imaginary bill it's like well I
- 00:27:11I'm here for the food if you don't have
- 00:27:12the food what would I come to this place
- 00:27:14for the convertible Bond Traders are
- 00:27:17saying we're here for the volatility if
- 00:27:19you don't have the volatility we're not
- 00:27:20really interested just give us our money
- 00:27:22back well now that's a problem uh
- 00:27:25because if the volatility disappears and
- 00:27:28you you got to get the money back here's
- 00:27:29what's going to happen to the share
- 00:27:30price it is going to drop very
- 00:27:35quickly uh so it is not what's keeping
- 00:27:38the share price up is the volatility not
- 00:27:42not not this magic Bitcoin yield that
- 00:27:44you're being sold they that that's just
- 00:27:48that's just a story that's being told to
- 00:27:50you um and uh if we listen to Michael
- 00:27:54sailor and what he what he tells you
- 00:27:56he's filling you up with a heavy of
- 00:27:59misinformation CNBC interview he says
- 00:28:01we're making we're basically making $500
- 00:28:04million a day that is Enron style math
- 00:28:08okay so what Enron did was it had these
- 00:28:11spvs and then it would book all future
- 00:28:14profit whether it was real or not based
- 00:28:17on their assumptions they would find the
- 00:28:19present value of all those future
- 00:28:20profits and call it profit today if they
- 00:28:22wanted more profits they changed their
- 00:28:25assumptions so what what is a better
- 00:28:28statement that he made last week is the
- 00:28:31sale of the convertible debt that we did
- 00:28:35opens the door to the possibility that
- 00:28:39we may end up with 500 million more of
- 00:28:42Bitcoin than it costs us in shares if
- 00:28:44we'd sold shares today that relies on
- 00:28:48those shares on those bonds being
- 00:28:50converted into shares in other words
- 00:28:54they didn't make 500 million that day
- 00:28:56they opened up the possibility
- 00:28:59that they may get that at some point in
- 00:29:01the future or may not they didn't make
- 00:29:03it that day to say that you did is to
- 00:29:06Mark uh to Market all of your gains
- 00:29:09today without the market going in the
- 00:29:12without knowing what direction the
- 00:29:13Market's going to go in that is some
- 00:29:15Enron style math that's involved there
- 00:29:18but he did say one thing that's true he
- 00:29:21said we are selling $1 bills for
- 00:29:23$3 now if you're listening to that you
- 00:29:25say that is fantastic what a great
- 00:29:27business to be in until you realize that
- 00:29:30they're selling these three these $1
- 00:29:32bills for three bucks to you they're
- 00:29:34issuing Equity at% premium to bitcoin
- 00:29:38they're selling $1 bills for $3 that is
- 00:29:41beautiful for the bond holders what
- 00:29:43great collateral thank you thank you
- 00:29:45shareholders you just keep providing us
- 00:29:47this
- 00:29:49collateral uh the larger and more
- 00:29:51frequent the move the greater the gain
- 00:29:53uh is for the convertible Bond holders
- 00:29:56and if you can keep this alive
- 00:29:58uh let's say you keep this alive and the
- 00:30:00price is down here way below the
- 00:30:03conversion and you're at expiration uh
- 00:30:06the convertible Bond holders will gladly
- 00:30:08roll over and say we'll go another four
- 00:30:10years thank you very much they'll gladly
- 00:30:12roll over uh you keep doing what you're
- 00:30:14doing you keep providing the
- 00:30:17volatility um if you're Delta trading uh
- 00:30:20you're going to get random results why
- 00:30:23because you need this thing to move up
- 00:30:25and down and up and down and you make
- 00:30:27money and you give it back and you make
- 00:30:28money and you give it back and you make
- 00:30:30it and you give it back and all you blew
- 00:30:32up uh you're playing the wrong game you
- 00:30:35got to get lucky if you're playing
- 00:30:37basketball on a soccer field you got to
- 00:30:39get lucky and hope the ball is never
- 00:30:41passed to you CU as soon as it touches
- 00:30:43your hands ah it's a soccer game
- 00:30:45penalty uh the game here is gamma
- 00:30:47trading uh the bond holders will be as
- 00:30:51long as this is here they get consistent
- 00:30:52results so you got to get smart about
- 00:30:55the game that's being played so let's uh
- 00:30:58look at the um the business model for
- 00:31:01micro strategy uh let's look at their
- 00:31:04output first what are they selling uh
- 00:31:06they're selling
- 00:31:08volatility uh and uh they need some kind
- 00:31:12of operational
- 00:31:14asset how are you uh producing this
- 00:31:17output that you're selling because you
- 00:31:18have to have a way to produce this
- 00:31:21output uh the operational asset is the
- 00:31:24uh micro strategy
- 00:31:26shareholder uh and and there is a
- 00:31:28process uh in which you U misinform the
- 00:31:32micro strategy shareholder and you keep
- 00:31:34them in the game such that they will
- 00:31:37continue uh to produce the volatility
- 00:31:39you need to sell uh to the convertible
- 00:31:42Bond holders because that's the game you
- 00:31:44are an operational asset you are the
- 00:31:48input you are a depreciating asset like
- 00:31:52any operational asset there's going to
- 00:31:54be an estimated useful life and there's
- 00:31:58going to be some sort of depreciation
- 00:31:59that you apply to that estimated useful
- 00:32:01life and you'll have a salvage value of
- 00:32:04whatever Bitcoin is left over after the
- 00:32:07convertible Bond holders get all of
- 00:32:09their money back so the question is well
- 00:32:12what is the useful life of the
- 00:32:15assets that's the whole thing about
- 00:32:18these volatility games is you don't know
- 00:32:21uh you have implied volatility now of
- 00:32:23213% so let's say that it drops to 100%
- 00:32:27and let's say the price uh goes up and
- 00:32:30you are short uh shares right now well
- 00:32:34you're going to lose on the short
- 00:32:35position but you're going to gain on the
- 00:32:37call however implied volatility is
- 00:32:39dropping so your convexity is going to
- 00:32:41start to do
- 00:32:42this right so if this is your short
- 00:32:45position if implied volatility Falls too
- 00:32:48much uh-oh now the game is over now
- 00:32:51you're losing now you're going to lose
- 00:32:54and if that becomes the case because
- 00:32:56everybody knows
- 00:32:58everybody knows that's the game if
- 00:33:00that's the case these shorts are going
- 00:33:02to pile into this very fast because the
- 00:33:05second type of Arbitrage is going to
- 00:33:07show up which is long Bitcoin and short
- 00:33:11micro strategy shares down to its net
- 00:33:13asset value and even lower because
- 00:33:16you're going to have to pay back those
- 00:33:18bonds with all that Bitcoin you bought
- 00:33:20which means the residual for the
- 00:33:22shareholders is going to be rather
- 00:33:25tiny so what should you be looking at to
- 00:33:28determine how uh how safe this is to
- 00:33:31play you should be looking at the
- 00:33:32volatility if volatility on this starts
- 00:33:34dropping you're in trouble how do you
- 00:33:36keep volatility alive well if the price
- 00:33:39is moving in One Direction uh can we get
- 00:33:42a short report in on this and can we get
- 00:33:44some negative stories maybe Wall Street
- 00:33:46Journal would be good maybe one of the
- 00:33:48convertible Bond holders may call a
- 00:33:50contact you know Black Rock calls Wall
- 00:33:53Street Journal a contact say have you
- 00:33:55looked at how crazy the math is on this
- 00:33:57micr strategy thing I think there's a
- 00:33:59story here and of course that should
- 00:34:01send it right back down and then of
- 00:34:02course you have management that can then
- 00:34:04uh you know make uh uh you know go on
- 00:34:07CNBC go on Bloomberg Go on stage
- 00:34:09somewhere and talk about the Bitcoin
- 00:34:12yield we're making 500 million a day uh
- 00:34:15we're selling $1 bills for $3 uh you
- 00:34:18know these institutions want access to
- 00:34:21us all somewhat truths but a heavy dose
- 00:34:25of misinformation in there and some
- 00:34:27Enron Stu ST Math uh and hopefully you
- 00:34:30can get the price to go back up but you
- 00:34:31can't have it go in one direction which
- 00:34:33means hopefully we can get another uh
- 00:34:35short report in here it would be help
- 00:34:37helpful you know on the next time if we
- 00:34:39had somebody that issued a long report
- 00:34:41bti uh does that for micro strategy it
- 00:34:45uh it continues to be bullish which
- 00:34:47makes no sense when you look at paying
- 00:34:50300% of nav even if you have 30% I grant
- 00:34:53you even if you had 30% uh leverage I'm
- 00:34:57just won't even question it because
- 00:34:59because they do all convert and the bond
- 00:35:01holders are short so it's questionable
- 00:35:03whether there is leverage to begin with
- 00:35:04but let's say 30%
- 00:35:06leverage uh you would have uh a premium
- 00:35:09of 30% over Bitcoin not 300 and 400% no
- 00:35:14no nobody uh who is an analyst would
- 00:35:18ever would ever suggest that that that
- 00:35:20that makes a lot of sense so uh that is
- 00:35:24part of your production process you are
- 00:35:28not shareholders you are operational
- 00:35:30assets you are depreciable assets you
- 00:35:32are assets from which we will extract
- 00:35:35value for our output for our true
- 00:35:38customers which are the convertible
- 00:35:41bonds uh the narrow window in which this
- 00:35:45works out is the price keeps going up on
- 00:35:48very high volatility so that the
- 00:35:51inefficient stock price becomes even
- 00:35:53more inefficient you need to be 300% of
- 00:35:56nap 400 100% 500% 600% and all of these
- 00:36:01people oblivious oblivious to the fact
- 00:36:05and completely drinking the Kool-Aid and
- 00:36:08sold and sold on the idea that this is
- 00:36:11this is this is going to be incredible
- 00:36:13this is going to be a 20 trillion
- 00:36:15company and it has to keep going that
- 00:36:17way or it all falls apart and when that
- 00:36:20volatility disappears you all disappear
- 00:36:23this whole thing disappears this is a
- 00:36:27one way bet a oneway bet it must work
- 00:36:31out it's a one-way bet everything else
- 00:36:34is absolute destruction if you um want
- 00:36:37to entertain yourself a little bit more
- 00:36:41I want you to go to the SEC go to Edgar
- 00:36:44and uh look up micro strategy and uh
- 00:36:46just look for form four form four is
- 00:36:49Insider buying and selling uh micro
- 00:36:52strategy has a lot of share-based
- 00:36:54compensation so it it not only does it
- 00:36:57sell Equity to buy Bitcoin to back up uh
- 00:37:01What uh what the convertible Bond
- 00:37:02holders would have as assets uh it
- 00:37:05prints shares for itself uh uh at a very
- 00:37:09rapid pace so there's another leak that
- 00:37:11you have as well so if you look at form
- 00:37:14four you will see an a followed by a
- 00:37:16bunch of
- 00:37:17D's a is acquired D is disposed so the
- 00:37:21acquired is your share base compensation
- 00:37:23is vested you have now 50,000 shares
- 00:37:26sell sell sell sell sell
- 00:37:28it's it's not a matter of thank you sell
- 00:37:30sell sell sell
- 00:37:31sell and the next one call up the next
- 00:37:33one same thing sell sell sell sell sell
- 00:37:35next one sell sell sell sell sell look
- 00:37:36at the sheer number of form fours why
- 00:37:40because they are selling $1 bills for
- 00:37:43three bucks why wouldn't they do it if
- 00:37:46they really believed in the Delta story
- 00:37:49they wouldn't be sellers but they know
- 00:37:50this is a gamma story not a Delta story
- 00:37:53so yeah they're more than willing to
- 00:37:55sell you their shares at a 300% sent
- 00:37:57premium to bitcoin you give me three
- 00:38:00bucks uh and you'll get a dollar of
- 00:38:02Bitcoin and I'll go buy $3 of Bitcoin
- 00:38:05thank you very much you're getting
- 00:38:07fleeced in so many
- 00:38:10ways because you think you're playing
- 00:38:12basketball you can't see it once you see
- 00:38:15that this is a soccer field you'll stop
- 00:38:18playing the way you're playing now I can
- 00:38:20show you how to trade how to gamma trade
- 00:38:24micro strategy without the bonds you
- 00:38:27don't need the bonds micro strategy has
- 00:38:29options you can you can uh buy calls uh
- 00:38:33yourself and you can short shares
- 00:38:35yourself uh and you can trade the
- 00:38:38selection of what strike to buy and uh
- 00:38:42what date to expiration requires that
- 00:38:45you understand Theta Decay which if you
- 00:38:47don't understand Theta Decay don't even
- 00:38:50try to do this you will get murdered if
- 00:38:54you don't understand uh how volatility
- 00:38:56stays aive don't even try to do this if
- 00:38:59you have a small account if you have
- 00:39:01less than 25,000 don't even try to do
- 00:39:03this because you will be uh classified
- 00:39:06as a pattern day trader very quickly
- 00:39:09because this does require you to Delta
- 00:39:11hedge uh every day sometimes uh intraday
- 00:39:14because this thing does move and what
- 00:39:17you're hoping for at this point in time
- 00:39:19is not the price to go up or the price
- 00:39:21to go down but for the price to move and
- 00:39:24you don't care what direction it moves
- 00:39:26in
- 00:39:28that's how you make money and if you can
- 00:39:30do this you can use leverage there's
- 00:39:32where your magic leverage comes in is on
- 00:39:35this particular trade cuz you're delta
- 00:39:37neutral I will put this video up uh
- 00:39:41Monday as I described in the opening
- 00:39:43screen I will put it up in the applied
- 00:39:45level in the applied options in the
- 00:39:48volatility trading folder because this
- 00:39:50is uh the purest form of volatility
- 00:39:53trading which is uh which is gamma uh
- 00:39:56gamma Trading
- 00:39:59that's the game being played out there
- 00:40:00now to keep this alive you got to keep
- 00:40:03you got to keep going you got to keep
- 00:40:04this kind of thing going how do you keep
- 00:40:06this going you have to continue to add
- 00:40:09Bitcoin you have to continue to keep
- 00:40:11this alive you have to issue more uh uh
- 00:40:14bonds you have to issue more Equity
- 00:40:17because the more uh Bond holders you
- 00:40:19have the more they're going to short
- 00:40:21shares on the way up the more they're
- 00:40:22going to uh cover the short on the way
- 00:40:24down they will provide some of the
- 00:40:26volatility as well and you got to keep
- 00:40:28the story alive for the for the
- 00:40:30shareholders and saying oh we raised
- 00:40:32even more money people can't wait to get
- 00:40:34in institutions are throwing money at us
- 00:40:37and you will think ah what a great Delta
- 00:40:40game and they're there for the gamma
- 00:40:43game right it's like walking down the
- 00:40:45street and seeing a long lineup and
- 00:40:47thinking they're going into your bar but
- 00:40:48they're not they're going into the bar
- 00:40:50next door that's what's going on here so
- 00:40:53this will be up in the applied level uh
- 00:40:55tomorrow uh I'll show you how to uh how
- 00:40:58to how uh gamma trading would work on
- 00:41:01micro strategy shares
- 00:41:26[Music]
- Buy-side modeling
- Sell-side modeling
- Convertible bonds
- Gamma trading
- MicroStrategy
- Volatility
- Market inefficiency
- Stock price
- Shareholder misinformation
- Financial strategy