Short Volatility on a Roll

Investors betting on the next volatility spike have taken a beating. The last time the CBOE’s VIX® index closed above 30 was December 8th, 2011.  In the 16 months since the split adjusted price of Barclays’ VXX has dropped from 174.84 to 20.34—an 88% drop.  None of the 14 other USA based volatility funds that are designed to rise with volatility increases did well, the best …

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How to short VXX—the hard way and the easy way

Easy way: If you want to short VXX the simplest way is to buy Volatility Share’s SVIX.  This Exchange Traded Funds tracks -1X  the daily percentage moves of VXX so it isn’t a true short, but it has the same goal—going up when VXX goes down.  They carry annual investment fees (SVXY’s is 1.35%), which I doubt is an issue for you if you’re thinking …

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