Based on a number of recent reports indicating the major indexes could end the year flat from where they sit today, I offered a few ideas on how investors could still profit during the last four months of 2017.
One of those ways was using Exchange Traded Funds that invest in the futures of the Volatility Index. For most investors, the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX or even the 'fear gauge,' is a rather complicated and confusing market measuring stick. So, today we are going to go through the 'ins' and 'outs' of the VIX and go into a little more detail on how the average investor can use the VIX ETF's to turn a little profit from time to time.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was designed to put a number on market volatility so investors could trade and make money based on the volatility of the stock market. This is achieved through the use of the futures market and options prices. The VIX tells investors the square root of the risk-neutral expectation of the S&P 500 variance during the following 30 calendar days.
The VIX is often quoted as a number, say 10, 20, 25. That number represents the expected annualized change, with a 68% probability of being true, of the S&P 500. So for example if the VIX is at 20, it would be predicting the S&P 500 will change up or down by 20% over the next 12 months. Continue reading "How You Can Make Money From Market Volatility"
