期权菜单：利率观点的交易思路

Investors often have a clear directional view on rates, but face a trade-off between linear instruments that introduce risks they do not intend and vanilla options that protect against scenarios they do not expect. We scan the USD rates option surface with an investment horizon under one year to find the best-value structures for four views: higher rates, lower rates, steeper curves and flatter curves. Higher rates: buy a 2y10y ATMF payer and sell a 3m10y ATMF+50 payer at 361c, monetizing rich front-end implied vol to finance longer-dated payer exposure;