How Investors are Trading Spikes in Volatility

With just days to go before the U.S. elections, and coronavirus cases exploding higher, markets could easily sink lower here.

At the same time, volatility could easily rocket higher with a great deal of uncertainty.

Not helping, optimism has also dimmed we’ll see near-term stimulus, as both sides accuse each other of moving the goalposts.  At this point, the chances of seeing a bill prior to the U.S. election is extremely lower, and very much unlikely.  That being the case, investors have been pushing into ETFs and ETNs that push higher with the Volatility Index.  Some of the top ones they’re buying include:

ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (UVXY)

The ETF was designed to match two times (2x) the daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index.

iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures (VXX)

The VXX ETN provides exposure to the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index.

ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY)

ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF provides long exposure to the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index, which measures the returns of a portfolio of monthly VIX futures contracts with a weighted average of one month to expiration.