A Monthly Comparison of VXX and VXZ
Three years after their launch, VXX has about four times as many assets as its mid-term sibling, VXZ. When it comes to public relations and media column inches, I imagine the ratio is more like 50-1 in the favor of VXX. In many ways VXZ is the unloved ...
VXX Celebrates Third Birthday
It does not seem too long ago that I was the only person who thought VXX was worth mentioning. Known formally as the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN, VXX was launched three years ago today, alongside of its sibling, the iPath S&P 500 ...
Expiring Monthly January 2012 Issue Recap
I may have been away on vacation for the last two weeks, but that doesn’t mean my brain was entirely at rest. In fact I was particularly busy in the January 2012 edition of Expiring Monthly: The Option Traders Journal, which was published last week ...
The VIX-VXX Minotaur Trade
[The following first appeared in the December 2010 edition of Expiring Monthly: The Option Traders Journal. I thought I would share it partly because I have an article, “Synthetic Seasonal VIX-VXX Arb,” which appears in the just published January 2...
ZIV Undeservedly Neglected
Much to my amazement, next week will mark the third anniversary of the launch of the first two VIX ETPs: the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) and the S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN (VXZ). Some may recall that investors were slow to w...
Three New Risk Control ETFs from Direxion
Today Direxion announced they have launched three ETFs whose intent is to match their exposure to an underlying equity index based upon current levels of market volatility. The new ETFs are as follows: Direxion S&P 500 RC Volatility Response Sh...
The Year in Safe Havens
Earlier today, in Safe Haven Options Shrinking? I noted the recent failure of some of the safe haven trades in volatility, gold and crude oil securities to hedge the latest decline in stocks. A question many observers have is how well these “big fiv...
Safe Haven Options Shrinking?
Back in February, in Chart of the Week: Flight-to-Safety ETPs, I examined the year-to-date performance of five exchange-traded products (ETPs) that are central to the flight-to-safety trade: volatility (VXX), gold (GLD), crude oil (USO), the dollar (UU...
Taking Profits in VIX Options (and ETPs)
Two hours into today’s session, the trading idea I mentioned yesterday, going long VIX puts, is doing quite well. The VIX Dec 27.50s are up more than 50% and the Dec 30s puts have advanced about 45%. One question that I believe is much trickier wit...
Interview at OptionPundit
Earlier this week, OptionPundit published the transcript of a recent interview: Bill Luby Talks to OptionPundit. The interview touches on a wide range of subject, but with an emphasis on the VIX and VIX-based ETPs, such as VXX, VXZ, XVIX. As always, V...
