Implied Volatility Spreads and Future Options Returns Around Information Events and Conditions

While numerous prior studies report that call–put implied volatility spreads positively predict future stock returns, recent literature shows that the predictive relation is negative for future call option returns. We investigate whether and, if so, how the predictive relation for options returns is influenced by various information events and conditions. In addition to confirming an opposite predictive relation for both call and put returns, we show that the predictive relation is stronger during periods of earnings announcement and/or high sentiment. In addition, we find that investors learn from informed trading and revise their predictability bias by examining the impacts of information asymmetry, stock liquidity, and options liquidity on the predictive relationships.