The short-term Volatility ETPs hold a mix of the two nearest-to-expiration VIX futures. The ETPs are either long both of those (e.g., VXX, UVXY, UVIX, VIXY) or short both of those (SVIX, SVXY). If the VIX futures term structure is in contango, with prices increasing with time, then the tendency will be for both futures to drop in value on a daily basis–so a long ETP …
This post discusses how the LONGVOL and SHORTVOL indexes work, but starts with some historical background that illuminates why these new indexes were needed. Two new leveraged volatility Exchange Traded Funds from Volatility Shares, -1X SVIX and 2X UVIX started trading on the 30th of March, 2022. SVIX and UVIX utilize two new Cboe indexes, the Short VIX Futures Index (ticker: SHORTVOL) and the …
The Cboe’s VIX®, VIX3Msm (93-day), and VIX6Msm (184-day) indexes enable us to quantify volatility term structures but until now, historical analyses between VIX style indexes have been limited to dates after December 2001 in the case of VIX3M and January 2008 for VIX6M. This post introduces the results of VIX6M style calculations back to 1990 and reviews issues and trends that were revealed. In November …
The Cboe’s VIX® (30-day) and VIX3M (93-day) indexes enable us to quantify volatility term structures but until now, historical analyses between VIX style indexes have been limited to dates after December 2001. This post introduces the results of VIX3M style calculations back to 1990, and reviews issues and trends that were revealed. In November 2007, the Cboe introduced VIX3M, a volatility index that uses the …
Hardly a month goes by without some pundit trumpeting that the VIX is broken. But before you worry too much, consider some of the non-obvious characteristics of the Cboe’s Fear Gauge. I often hear people in the finance industry saying that “The VIX® is broken”. The specifics of what they say varies a lot, but the typical pronouncements go something like this: These boil down …
