tasty Extras - March 18, 2021 - Measuring Risk of Pairs Using Correlation
When trading pairs, be mindful of their correlation, as that will determine the daily risk profile of the trade. A high positive correlation between the pair will translate to a lower volatility in the position, whereas a low or negative correlation between the pair will translate to higher daily volatility.
As an example, the daily volatility in the /ES-/ZB pair was around 6x larger than the daily volatility in the /ES-/YM pair when taking into account the historical daily moves across the two bases relative to both pairs’ notional values.