Reuters seeks options reporter in New York

The Reuters financial markets team is seeking a seasoned and intrepid reporter to lead our coverage of the U.S. equity options market, an ungainly montage of more than a dozen exchanges, most of them all electronic, scattered around the country.

It’s where derivative bets are placed on the near- and long-term prospects for some 4,000 U.S.-listed companies, often employing exotic and colorfully labeled strategies such as “straddles,” “strangles,” “condor spreads” and “Christmas tree butterflies.”

It’s also a favored venue of major hedging activity by large institutional investors. In an equities market complex where volume is generally trending lower, the options market continues to experience growth in both trading volume and listings. It’s also a market where savvy speculators can turn cheap bets on big moves in stock prices into instant millions. It is rife with rumors about pending deals that can send calls soaring and puts plummeting.

It can also be a hotbed of insider trading activity. All that adds up to boundless opportunity for exclusives and big scoops by the right reporter, one with top-flight sources, a nose for unusual and suspicious market activity and the ability to write it all in engaging prose. The options market has its own unique math, dominated by complex calculations for determining implied volatilities, the bedrock of pricing in the sector.

We won’t ask you to take a calculus test, but you must be numerate and have the capability to sift confidently through mountains of data to spot trends, seize upon outsize market moves and expose not-so-infrequent cases of illicit activity.

To apply, go here.