Would be a really nice way to hedge against a crash since the ability to short is not currently offered. I’ve not found any inverse stocks or stocks that trend opposite to the market, if I’ve missed something please tell me. VIX would be really useful though.
I think you need to read into this more. It is impossible to recreate the CBOE VIX measure using an ETP and the results can look very different.
At the root of most volatility ETFs is the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX). It’s often called the “fear index” and mislabeled “market volatility” on TV. What it actually is, however, is much more complex.
The VIX is calculated using the implied volatility of a basket of options on the S&P 500—both those about to expire, and those expiring next month. The idea is to come up with a number that represents the level of volatility the options market is expecting in the S&P 500 over the next 30 days. It’s essentially reverse-engineering the maths that options traders are using when they decide just how much to pay for a put or a call.
There are a few very important things to note here. The first is that there’s no direct mathematical relationship between the actual volatility of the S&P 500 and the VIX. The second is that it’s a forward-looking guess. The actual volatility of the market can be theoretically very low, while options traders are panicking about next month, sending VIX skyrocketing. Similarly, the market could go bananas, and options traders could be sanguine about next month, and have VIX much less affected than you might expect.
Practically speaking, you can’t just “buy” the VIX, unfortunately. Instead, the CBOE has futures contracts on the value of VIX that are widely traded. Like any futures contract, the VIX futures are simply a bet on where a particular number is going to land on a particular day in the future.
Interesting I didn’t realise that’s how it worked. Can you suggest any thing to hedge against the market? Ive seen some place offer inverse spx, dji, etc. To me this means they trade the same as a normal stock but go the opposite way, so you can short but using a long position to do so? Is there anything like that on free trade or any items which trend opposite to the market, they don’t have to be Mathematically linked.
The issue is that you are shorting from a particular value. So say you buy a short position but then the market rallies 100% then falls 50%, it will still be above your short position and so you make no money. Gold and bonds are the best long-term hedges as part of a portfolio. Inverse ETFs and the like only really work over short-term periods (especially leveraged ones) they are not sometime you can typically buy and hold.