How Volatility ETPs Really Work TL;DR

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 …

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UVIX Reverse Split October 11 th, 2023

Volatility Shares will execute a 1:10 reverse split for UVIX, effective at market open October 11th, 2023 (press release). Since its inception in March 2022, UVIX’s decay rate has averaged around 16% per month.  Some investors anticipate significant price moves in UVIX motivated by a reverse split.  I’m not in that camp.  UVIX’s price is tied to VIX futures’ price, which couldn’t care less about UVIX’s …

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Benn Eifert’s Twitter Threads On Finance

Benn Eifert’s contributions to the field of finance are impressive but can be hard to find. I’ve compiled links to some of his Twitter tweets below. I have also collected links to his blog posts and podcasts. Tweets Twitter Thread Date PDF unroll (no ads) Keywords Derivative Notional and Counterparty Risk To briefly reiterate, on derivatives notional and counterparty risk. Dec 6, 2022 Derivatives notional …

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Why We Need the LONGVOL & SHORTVOL Indexes

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 …

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