Options Trading Based on the Forecasting of Volatility Direction with the Incorporation of Investor Sentiment

Using options price data on the Taiwanese stock market, we propose an options trading strategy based on the forecasting of volatility direction. The forecasting models are constructed with the incorporation of absolute returns, heterogeneous autoregressive-realized volatility (HAR-RV), and proxy of investor sentiment. After we take into consideration the margin-based transaction costs, the results of our simulated trading indicate that a straddle trading strategy that considers the forecasting of volatility direction with the incorporation of market turnover achieves the best Sharpe ratios. Our trading algorithm bridges the gap between options trading, market volatility, and the information content of investor overreaction.