Analyst/ETF Trader Paul Weisbruch of Street One Financial brings us his daily fund flows update, which today points out continued profit taking in the world’s largest ETF, along with increased bets on a renewed downturn in volatility.
As we mentioned last week, fund inflows continue to be very light and largely absent in the ETF marketplace even on the recent dip in equities. Conversely, we continue to see some mild position trimming in SPDR S&P 500 (MX:SPY) (NYSE:SPY) (-$2 billion out) in recent sessions, as the SPX clipped its 50 day MA last Thursday and has failed to bounce and hold since.
Another recent trend that continues is the buying interest in “Inverse” ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures (NYSE:SVXY), with the fund taking in more than $300 million in recent sessions. Competing fund VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short Term (NASDAQ:XIV) has likewise caught a bid with more than $285 million joining the party in recent sessions as well, as “Volatility of Volatility” (or “vol of vol”) remains very high in the marketplace, and the VIX itself has ranged from $9 to above $17 inside of the past ten trading sessions.
The VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (XIV) was trading at $75.86 per share on Monday afternoon, up $1.97 (+2.67%). Year-to-date, XIV has gained 62.27%, versus a 9.63% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
XIV currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of C (Neutral), and is ranked #3 of 6 ETFs in the Inverse Volatility ETFs category.