I have traded the (ARCA:VXX) only once or twice in my entire life, and I know nothing of its nuances. I was surprised, however, to see what I saw today: while the VIX was up double-digits, the VXX was up something pathetic like 1.8%. I (naively) assumed that VXX and VIX moved in lockstep. I decided to lay down the two items on top of one another in ProphetCharts, and as you can see, the VXX (in blue) excels in pretty much going down all the time, almost irrespective of the VIX’s wild moves:
Suffice it to say that any notions I had about taking advantage of expanding volatility by way of the VXX have been permanently dispatched! Slopers (including myself) would surely be interested in the opinions of more knowledgeable souls out there about this: is there no instrument that truly tracks the VIX? What are your thoughts on some other VIX-based funds?
And with that, my friends, I shall bid you a good evening and a good discussion in the comments section. For myself, I am positioned LONG gold and miners, FLAT on ETFs (no positions), and SHORT a bunch of equities, although not to the extent I was going into Monday morning. I intend to load up very heavily on the short side if we can get a bounce, which might take place as soon as Wednesday morning.