Bullish and Bearish Volatility Skews: ENB, FTR, HBHC, GA, PBT, SPH

• Frontier Communications Corporation (FTR) followed things up with a volatility skew of 1.19. FTR has also been trading lower during the past month with losses of -1.30%.
• Hancock Holding Co. (HBHC) has a volatility skew of 1.18. HBHC has fallen -13.91% this month.

Bearish Volatility Skews

• Giant Interactive Group, Inc. (GA) -- part of the Business Services industry -- came in at the bottom of the pile with a volatility skew of 0.85. This seems like a pretty safe bet as GA has lost -0.68% the past month.
• Permian Basin Royalty Trust (PBT) was next to last with a volatility skew of 0.84. PBT on the other hand, has moved higher during the last month, gaining 1.76%.
• Suburban Propane Partners LP (SPH) has a volatility skew of 0.84. SPH has dropped -5.94% this past month.

Any time the volatility skews above 1.00, it is an indication that calls are more expensive than puts. Typically, when calls are more expensive than puts, it means the demand for calls is greater than the demand for puts because investors believe the stock is going to rise in the future and they want to take advantage of that movement by buying calls.

The opposite is also true. Any time a volatility skews below 1.00, it is an indication that puts are more expensive than calls.

S. Wade Hansen is the co-founder of and a contributing author at LearningMarkets.com