The VIX, like all indexes, is not available for direct purchase. You can’t even buy a basket of underlying components to mirror the VIX, unlike a stock index like the S&P 500. Instead, futures contracts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) that own those futures contracts are the only ways for investors to gain access to the VIX.
By CFE
Volatility has emerged as an asset class over the last decade, with VIX Futures leading the way. In 2004, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was used to launch financial futures trading. This was the first time a publicly traded derivative that allowed investors direct exposure to projected market volatility was accessible for trading. If you’re thinking about adding volatility to your trading and portfolio management toolbox, there are a few things to keep in mind before you get started.
What Does the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) Indicate?
VIX is a standardized measure of near-term volatility based on option pricing for the S&P 500 (SPX).
The VIX is calculated using two separate expiration sets of SPX options, with the two series being time weighted to produce a consistent 30-day measure of implied volatility.
When the S&P 500 is under pressure, the demand for SPX put options rises, causing VIX to rise.
Because of the heightened demand for portfolio protection when the market is under pressure, VIX has earned the moniker “The Fear Index.”
2. The VIX Index and the S&P 500 Index
Traders have been trained to believe that when the S&P 500 falls, VIX increases, and when the S&P 500 rises, VIX falls. This view has some merit because the long-term daily price change connection between the S&P 500 and VIX is extremely close to -0.75. On occasion, though, both the S&P 500 and the VIX move in the same direction. In fact, VIX and the S&P 500 price moves move in the same direction on around 20% of trading days. From January 2004 through July 2016, the table below shows the link between VIX and the S&P 500 on days when equities were higher and days when they were lower.
From August 2015 to July 2016, the daily price action in the S&P 500 and VIX is seen in the chart below.
There have been a few instances where the S&P 500 has dropped off sharply, and VIX has surged in reaction.
Contract Specifications for VIX Futures
A VIX Futures contract has a notional value of $1000 times the index. Futures trade in 0.05 or ($50 a tick) increments, but calendar spreads may be quoted in 0.01 ($10 a tick) intervals. In June 2014, the trading hours for VIX Futures were extended to nearly 24 hours a day, five days a week. Spot VIX is calculated and quoted outside of US trading hours, starting at 2:15 a.m. Chicago time, which is when European markets open.
The CBOE Futures Exchange has been listing VIX Futures expiring each week for multiple weeks in a row for just over a year.
There are also regular VIX Futures contracts that expire every month.
Standard expiration is usually on a Wednesday, which is 30-days before the standard third Friday SPX option expiration date the following month.
The VIX futures quotes from August 15, 2016 are shown in Figure 2.
VIX Weeklys Futures and standard VIX futures are used in the above quotes.
The VIX/Q6 contract is the standard VIX contract for August.
The quotes that start with a number are VIX Weekly Futures, and the numbers denote the week in which these contracts expire.
VIX futures are contracts that are settled in the morning.
The final settlement value for VIX Futures is the VIX Index’s Special Opening Quotation (SOQ). The SOQ is derived from the opening prices of constituent SPX or SPX Weeklys options that expire 30 days following the VIX expiration date. The ticker VRO is used to communicate the final settlement value for VIX futures. The day before settlement is the last trading day for VIX Futures, thus a contract that is set to expire on Wednesday morning will stop trading at 3:15 p.m. Chicago time the day before settlement. This means that on the day of settlement, a contract slated to expire will not trade during non-US hours.
Spot VIX and other VIX futures may trade at a premium or discount to VIX Futures contracts.
The majority of trading days, VIX Futures are trading at a premium to spot VIX as well as futures contracts that expire before the particular contract’s expiration date.
The pricing of spot VIX and regular VIX futures contracts on the Friday before and after the recent Brexit vote is shown in Figure 3.
RISK DISCLAIMER: Trading futures products carries high risk of loss, which must be acknowledged before trading and may not be suitable for all investors. Actual trades or methods referenced above may have performed well in the past, but this does not guarantee that they will perform well in the future. Phillip Capital Inc. bears no responsibility for errors or omissions in the material included herein, which is supplied to you solely for informational purposes and is believed to have been derived from reliable sources but cannot be guaranteed. The author’s thoughts and opinions in this letter are his or her own and do not reflect those of Phillip Capital Inc. or its employees.
Is there a VIX futures market?
VIX futures were first traded on the Cboe Futures ExchangeSM (CFE) in 2004. They allow market participants to trade a liquid volatility product based on the VIX Index methodology. VIX futures reflect the market’s prediction of the VIX Index’s value at various future expiration dates. VIX futures give market players a number of ways to put their ideas into action through volatility trading tactics such risk management, alpha generation, and portfolio diversification.
Can you buy VIX futures options?
The CBOE Futures Exchange is where VIX futures are traded. The underlying security or commodity, the contract multiplier or contract size, tick size, contract months, and expiration dates for a futures contract are all defined in the contract specifications. The following are the specs for the VIX:
A tick is the smallest possible movement in a futures contract. Trading VIX Futures, like other futures contracts, requires a margin requirement. A margin requirement is a deposit that must be made in order to trade a futures contract. The minimum deposit necessary to trade VIX futures varies per broker, however the exchange does set a minimum.
VIX futures are traded where?
There are other tradable instruments for advanced retail traders, such as VIX futures (available on TD Ameritrade’s thinkorswim platform), that can help to level the playing field between retail and professional traders.
How does one purchase the VIX Index?
- Investors have traded the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) since it was first created as a measure of investor sentiment regarding future volatility.
- Buying exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) related to VIX is the most common way to trade it.
- The iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) and the ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF are both VIX-related ETFs and ETNs (SVXY).
How is the spot VIX determined?
The VIX is derived by multiplying the number of days in a month by the number of days in “By averaging the weighted prices of out-of-the-money options and calls, you may compute predicted volatility.” In the example below, we’ll start on the far left of the formula with options that expire in 16 and 44 days, respectively. On the left, there is a symbol ” symbolizes the result of multiplying the square root of the sum of all the integers to the right by 100.
Is a VIX ETF available?
VIXM, VXZ, and VIXY are the VIX exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with the best one-year trailing total returns. To follow market volatility, all three ETFs own futures contracts.
What exactly does a VIX of 30 imply?
The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) is generally known as the “Worry Index” because it measures the level of fear or stress in the stock market using the S&P 500 index as a proxy for the entire market. The higher the VIX, the more fear and uncertainty there is in the market, with levels exceeding 30 signaling extreme fear and uncertainty.
Can you buy VIX call options?
Because VIX options have a set trading range, they provide excellent chances for speculating. When the VIX bottoms out, a trader can profit from increases in volatility or decreases in the S&P 500 by buying calls, bull call spreads, or selling bull put spreads.
Are you able to use VIX options?
VIX options are European-style, meaning they can only be exercised at expiration, not before.
- You don’t have to be concerned about ending up with an undesirable VIX position when it expires.