8/12/15 was DOWN (not up) by -0.09 to 78.41. The QQQs are now trading premium to the component by about a third of a point. Usually I have a few futures to take to cash settlement but this time I am flat and will most likely stay that way.

Turning to the VVVs, they are discounted to the component by fourteen points. That seems like a big discount but on average since the lean hog futures began trading in 1996 at some point between now and expiration of the VVVs, the index will drop nearly nineteen points and this maximum drop usually occurs between Sept. 5th and Sept. 15th. Last year the maximum drop was 22.43 and that is when it occurred.

We don't always get much of a drop.

In 2009 when the VVVs expired, the index was almost a half-point higher than it had been when the QQQs expired.

I think this means we are going to have a lot of volatility between now and when the VVVs depart the landscape. If I understand ITZ correctly, he is thinking we are going to have a year like 2009 when the index holds up well into the high-kill season that usually occurs in the fall.

I just sold a VVV scalper at 64.80. Now to see whether or not is it my scalp.

Best wishes,

dhm