The ever-inventive financial sector has found ways to trade the difference between realised and implied volatility.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood

Everyone is worried about potential civil strife and its effect on the region, but there is also an economic aspect: while losing trade with Syria might not make a difference to most neighbors, losing the trade route will.

CNN: Syrian isolation marks regime's nadir

But because these negotiated ceilings are so much higher than the tariffs countries actually impose, even quite big cuts can make only a modest difference to trade.

ECONOMIST: Trade talks