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VXX

Good chart-gan fans with backwards fib times, 2nd shot VIXX <3Because the vxx bounced higher off the gann fan level top, vxx has a tendency to bounce above then go below... vxx has a tendency to bounce off the middle of the gann levels this pattern looks similar to the pattern where vxx next established a lower support, (lower and bounce) the rates of interest are getting raised, so that is a midterm(week+) sign of higher vxx the trend line crossovers have been a good area of action for stocks ipso facto vxx*
CBOE:VXX
by djays1.618
The Stock Market Swings From Bullish Signs to Stop Signs.A snipper from my latest post.... drduru.com The stock market faded from bullish undertones and back into the resting position. Now we can just look back at what could have been. For the first time in a long time, I feel compelled to change my short-term trading call from neutral. While the S&P 500 (SPY) still sits well within a trading range of churn, I see several signals which give me bearish vibes starting with my favorite technical indicator: AT40 (T2108), the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs). Through Wednesday, April 18th, AT40 rallied relatively consistently with 9 up days out of 12 trading days. The last two up days featured weakening momentum and the top, an intraday high of 67.6%, came just short of the overbought threshold of 70%. I typically interpret a rejection at the overbought threshold as a bearish event. I am particularly keen to follow this interpretation given a similar rejection preceded the big February sell-off, and I was very slow to react to that rejection. AT40 swiftly fell all the way back to 55.2% to close the week. I am now eager to see AT40 hold a higher low. The S&P 500 (SPY) provided one component of a bearish confirmation. At its last high, the index closed just about even with its close after the Fed’s last decision on monetary policy. Not only did the index fail to maintain momentum from there, but also the subsequent selling pushed the S&P 500 right back below its 50DMA. The NASDAQ and the PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ) both pulled up short of their post-Fed closes before dipping below their 50DMAs to the end the week. The volatility index, the VIX, might as well have sealed the deal. Last week, the VIX traded right down to the 15.35 pivot and convincingly held that level as support over the next 3 trading days. While the VIX did not pop as much as I would have expected, I am still respecting this hold of support. I am staying patient before shorting the iPath® S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures™ ETN (VXX) again, and I am holding onto call options on the ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (UVXY). The Australian dollar (FXA) versus the Japanese yen (FXY) provided one more piece to the puzzle by breaking down below its 50DMA again. Just a week ago, AUD/JPY looked like it was leading financial markets higher. Now it looks set to grease the skids pointing downward....
Short
by drduru
2
VXX - Bear Debit Put SpreadUsed some of the income received from Credit Call Spread to pay for a Debit Put Spread. While I rarely used debit option spreads, I think this might be a good situation to employ this strategy. I choose the 2/16 options (9 days), which is a short time frame for a debit strategy. Initially, I thought 9 days would be enough time, but it maybe too short even for the rapid decline I am expecting. I potentially may roll these out to 3/2 or 3/9. Greeks VXX $41.70 $39P Long D: -.3199 G: .0486 T: - .1483 IV: 138.39% (vs. 113.46%) $35P Short D: -.1387 G: .0301 T: - .0922 IV: 128.30% (vs. 113.46%) Spread: D: -.1812 G: .0185 T: - .0561 D: Combined positions W:
CBOE:VXXShort
by JLJ002500
VXX - Bear Credit Call SpreadThis is purely my trading journal, not investment advice. Especially with the screwed up and questionable nature of these volatility ETF & ETN created products, risk is even higher. Trading options of one of these products is buying/selling derivatives of an underlying product that is based on futures of a derivative. I closed my previous call spread. Took the money and ran not risking something crazy happening before expiration. At the same time I opened another call spread expiring 2/16. I lesson the spread, which reduced the income I receive, but also lesson my overall max possible loss should the trade move against me. To me, these near date options are very expensive right now. If price should continue up, even with the options having a short expiration date, I should have the ability to roll or adjust my position early next week if needed. Spread is 52 - 62. While is tempting to open another credit call spread as price has moved higher, I don't want to be exposed to additional risk. Regarding my the bear debit put spread i opened (another post), in hind sight that was a poor decision. The good thing is since I used premium received from the first credit call spread, I didn't use any of my own money for the trade. IF the price moves significantly lower early next week, I should still have the ability to roll & adjust the spread for minimum cost. However, with the current price gap of the first and second month VIX futures, price may not move enough for a roll/adjust to make sense for the put spread. W:
CBOE:VXXShort
by JLJ002500
8
VXX - Risky bear credit call spreadOpened bear credit call spread to hopefully take advantage of the high IV% and time premium. As long as market vol remains fairly stable for the rest of the week, I'll be in good shape. The very high time premium on short dated options means I am only at risk for a short period of time. It is atypical to be able to capture this amount of premium for options about to expire. The down side of trading short dated options is it is very hard to make adjustments if the trade goes against you. VXX 16.77% $50.23 D: .2382 G: .0528 T: -.2314 IV%: 253% (vs. 112.52%) W:
CBOE:VXX
by JLJ002500
Squeezing Some Alpha Out of VolatilityI don't care about the direction of the general market because the market does not dictate when and where I find sheer outrageous value. However, I do believe the diligent investor can leverage volatility in crazy market swings like these in order to generate some alpha for their portfolio. My latest blog post discusses this volatility trade in short, as well as my general thoughts on market directions and their impact on investment decisions. You can check it out here: rockvuecapital.wordpress.com Always trying to improve, Brandon
CBOE:VXXLong
by BrandonBeylo
THE WEEK AHEAD: EBAY, FB, MSFT, BABA, AAPL, XOM EARNINGSMore earnings ... . EBAY announces on the 31st (Wednesday) after market open: implied volatility percentile/rank 72/background 33. FB, on the 31st after: 90/34 MSFT, also on the 31st after: 100/29 BABA, on February 1st before: 94/40 AAPL, on February 1st after: 97/30 XOM, on February 2nd before: 91/19 Of these, BABA looks the most promising. Preliminarily, the Feb 9th 192.5/222.5 20 delta short strangle pays 4.71 at the mid, with its defined risk counterpart -- the Feb 9th 187.5/192.5/222.5/227 iron condor -- paying 1.77. On the exchange traded fund front: While there are underlyings with implied volatility in the greater than 70 percentiles, background implied remains muted, so these are likely to be of limited productiveness. Here are the top five: IYR (100/17); FXI (100/27); XLU (93/17); XLB (87/18). Volatility products: While VIX finished Friday lower to 11.08, futures didn't follow suit and were off only between .05-.10 across the term structure. Feb was off .10, but the March contract actually finished up by .05, meaning that neither VXX nor UVXY were down much. While I'm not in a position to read the minds of /VX futures traders, my guess is that they're positioning anew for the expiry of the continuing resolution that expires on February 8th (that play wasn't particularly productive the last go-round) or, more likely, a debt ceiling showdown in March, which has far more important ramifications for the market than a government shut-down, since a debt ceiling actually involves U.S. default concerns (historically, virtually illusory), while a failure to fund the government does not. In any event, I missed the opening of the March 9th weekly in VXX to put on my weekly short volatility play, and have spreads on in the monthly at current levels (short leg at 27), so will look to add in spreads in the March 23rd when it opens. Granted, what I have on looks a little battered here, particularly in the late February, early March expiries. The only thing to do is be patient, wait, and see whether the futures succumb to pressure to unload at least their February contracts so they're not left holding the bag and then to roll out for duration if particular spreads can't be taken off in profit or scratched out at expiry ... .
NYSE:BABA
by NaughtyPines
4