Group 1: Report Industry Investment Rating - No relevant content found Group 2: Core Viewpoints of the Report - Market makers play a crucial role in the options market by providing continuous two - sided quotes, ensuring market liquidity and stability. However, they often face risk exposure due to unequal market buying and selling forces, and effective risk management is the core issue for them [2][4]. - Market makers use volatility strategies to manage risks and achieve profits. They can take long or short volatility strategies according to their expectations of future market volatility, and also construct volatility - neutral strategies [4][5][8]. - Market makers need to manage risks from Greek letters (Delta, Gamma, Vega) through dynamic hedging strategies, and also pay attention to skew risk [8][9][12]. - Market makers face challenges such as insufficient market liquidity, regulatory policy uncertainty, and technological progress, but they can also seize opportunities brought by technology to enhance their competitiveness [13][14][16]. Group 3: Summary by Relevant Catalogs A. Application of Options Volatility Strategies - Market makers' main responsibility is to provide continuous two - sided quotes, which helps improve market liquidity, stability, and efficiency. But they often have net long or short positions, leading to risk exposure [2]. - Market makers manage risks by monitoring and adjusting Greek letters (Delta, Gamma, Vega). They use underlying assets or other options to hedge risk exposures, and need to consider factors such as liquidity and operational risk [3]. - Market makers use volatility strategies. When expecting rising volatility, they can use long volatility strategies like Long Straddle and Long Strangle; when expecting falling volatility, they can use short volatility strategies like Short Straddle and Short Strangle. They can also construct volatility - neutral strategies [5][7][8]. B. Risk Management Mechanisms and Practices - Market makers face risks from Greek letters (Delta, Gamma, Vega). They use dynamic hedging strategies to keep the portfolio neutral under different market conditions [8]. - To hedge Delta risk, market makers buy or sell underlying assets; to hedge Gamma risk, they introduce other options; to hedge Vega risk, they buy or sell other options. In practice, they need to comprehensively consider multiple risk factors and construct complex option portfolios [9][10][11]. - Market makers also need to pay attention to skew risk, which is the deviation of option relative volatility pricing, and adjust option portfolios to hedge this risk [12]. C. Future Challenges - Market makers face challenges such as insufficient market liquidity, which may lead to price risks and affect profitability. They need to take measures to improve market liquidity [13]. - Regulatory policy uncertainty exists due to differences among countries and regions, and frequent policy changes may affect long - term planning and investment decisions [14]. - Technological progress brings both opportunities and challenges. Market makers can use advanced technologies to improve risk management and trading efficiency, but they also need higher technical levels and innovation capabilities [14].

Group 1 - The core concept of options volatility strategy emphasizes the importance of analyzing volatility over the option price itself, as volatility is a critical indicator for investors when trading options [1] - Volatility can be categorized into implied volatility and historical volatility, with implied volatility reflecting market expectations of future price fluctuations [6][7] - The article outlines various volatility strategies, including long volatility strategies such as buying straddles and strangles, which are used when significant price movements are anticipated without a clear direction [3][4][6] Group 2 - A long straddle strategy involves purchasing both a call and a put option with the same strike price and expiration date, allowing for profit if the underlying asset's price moves significantly in either direction [3] - A long strangle strategy entails buying a call option with a higher strike price and a put option with a lower strike price, which is generally less expensive than a straddle and can yield high returns during significant price movements [4] - Directly purchasing volatility index futures, such as VIX futures, is another strategy employed when investors expect an increase in market volatility, allowing them to profit from rising volatility [4] Group 3 - The article also discusses short volatility strategies, where investors can profit from a decrease in volatility by selling options when volatility is expected to revert to its mean [7] - Historical volatility is calculated using past data, while implied volatility is derived from option pricing models, indicating market sentiment regarding future volatility [7] - The strategies discussed can be particularly effective during events that cause significant market fluctuations, such as geopolitical tensions or economic announcements [6][7]