Questions tagged [vix]

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index, a popular measure of the implied volatility of S&P 500 index options.

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Trading a synthetic replication of the VIX index

One cannot directly buy and sell the VIX index. Theoretically, however, one could approximate the index by purchasing an at-the-money straddle on the SP500, then delta-hedging the straddle. Does ...
pteetor's user avatar
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28 votes
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Why is the VIX futures market usually in a state of contango?

I'm a VIX newbie and I'm trying to understand why the VIX futures market is usually in a state of contango. All I can figure is that the sellers of VIX futures contracts demand high "prices" (because ...
David's user avatar
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26 votes
3 answers
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What does the VIX formula measure and how does it work?

I have read the CBOE's white paper on the VIX and a lot of other things, but I need to honestly say, I don't really get it, or I am missing something important. In semi-layman's terms, is the VIX ...
CQM's user avatar
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Why does the VIX index have *any* correlation to the market?

It appears that the log 'returns' of the VIX index have a (negative) correlation to the log 'returns' of e.g. the S&P 500 index. The r-squared is on the order of 0.7. I thought VIX was supposed to ...
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18 votes
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Hedging stocks with VIX futures

It seems that VIX futures could be a great hedge for a long-only stock portfolio since they rise when stocks fall. But how many VIX futures should I buy to hedge my portfolio, and which futures ...
pteetor's user avatar
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17 votes
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How does UBS hedge its exposure to XVIX ETN?

I am wondering how UBS hedges its exposure to its ETN XVIX. Unless I am grossly overestimating the trading costs, executing the strategy they describe in their prospectus with futures would be quite ...
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3 answers
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How can one compute the Greeks on VIX Futures

I am guessing the short answer to this question is "use the chain rule and linearity of the derivative," but I am looking for more specific advice on how to compute the derivatives of a VIX futures ...
shabbychef's user avatar
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Derivation of VIX Formula

I've read a lot of derivations about VIX formula. I can say it is -adjusted- fair strike of variance swap. But I can't see how it goes from variance swap rate to VIX formula. In particular I can't see ...
TryingtobeQuant's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
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Can VIX be interpreted as a proxy for instantaneous volatility?

Bakshi et al., (2006) Estimation of continuous-time models with an application to equity volatility dynamics (Table 2) estimate the following Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model for market variance, $\sigma^2_t$:...
lowndrul's user avatar
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15 votes
5 answers
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Using linear regression on (lagged) returns of one stock to predict returns of another

Suppose I want to build a linear regression to see if returns of one stock can predict returns of another. For example, let's say I want to see if the VIX return on day X is predictive of the S&P ...
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14 votes
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Is the VIX more similar to a volatility swap or a variance swap?

I am reading the following paragraph on the VIX wikipedia article and I find it confusing: The VIX is calculated as the square root of the par variance swap rate for a 30-day term[clarify] ...
RAY's user avatar
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14 votes
2 answers
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SPX options vs VIX futures trading

Forward volatility implied by SPX options, and that of VIX futures get out of line. If there existed VIX SQUARED futures they could easily be replicated (and arbitraged) with a strip of SPX options. ...
onlyvix.blogspot.com's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
502 views

What drives changes in implied volatility on ETFs/ETNs?

I thought implied volatility, as well as the VIX, primarily increase due to increases in the underlying asset's volatility, as well as the options themselves being bid up because more people were ...
CQM's user avatar
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9 votes
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Why not just be long VIX and wait for the next volatile period?

Over the past 3 months, VIX has been relatively low. Therefore, there seems to be a "free-lunch" here by just being long VIX, and wait for the next market turmoil (which is happening at the moment ...
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9 votes
3 answers
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Construction of VIX and VVIX

I just read the CBOE's Whitepapers for VIX and VVIX and notice that they are constructed in the same way, i.e. a range of calls and puts on the respective underlyings (S&P500 in case of VIX, and ...
Hurst's user avatar
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The Holy Grail of Volatility Modelling: The SPX & VIX - Why?

I am currently researching a pre-print article by Julien Guyon & Jordan Lekeufack (2022): Volatility Is (Mostly) Path-Dependent. Their model is quite impressive in both its simplicity, as well as ...
Sinbad The Sailor's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
768 views

What is the appropriate benchmark for a Long/Short VIX futures strategy?

Trying to figure out the benchmark for a L/S Vix futures stragegy, doesn't seem like only long or short Vix futures would be appropriate, any ideas? Thx
hernanavella's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
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What is the market standard for pricing VIX futures?

Pricing of VIX futures is complicated, because it is not possible to use a standard hedging argument to get a value similar to stock futures. What different approaches for pricing VIX futures exist? ...
zoom's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
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How to make sense of VXX and the people who bought it?

I don't quite understand how anyone would invest in VXX (asides from short-term trades)... Since the VIX term structure is generally in contango, the VXX is doomed to bleed to death. Therefore, how ...
philmo's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
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VIX = Vega of S&P500 options?

ok, so let assume I can predict the daily change in the VIX itself (in points) every day. what would be the best way to play this with OPTIONS? well, obviously VIX options, but if I can look at the ...
orieliyahu's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
682 views

What are VIX back-month futures based on?

The VIX calculation is a weighted average of prices for front-month out-the-money options on the S&P index. So for VIX futures, this makes sense for the front month vix futures (being based on a ...
CQM's user avatar
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8 votes
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If VIX is the Implied Volatility of SPX, 30 days in the future, how many days into the future does VIX vol look?

Question: if VIX is the Implied Volatility of SPX, 30 days in the future, how many days into the future does VIX vol look? +60 or +30? Lets see if I'm on the right track: Premise 1: VIX is the ...
Contango's user avatar
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7 votes
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When the Inverse Correlation between the SPX and VIX breaks down

As we all know the S&P and its implied vol, the VIX, generally move in opposite direction. To a large extent, the correlations makes sense. IV is one of the main drivers of the price of options, ...
jessica's user avatar
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7 votes
3 answers
583 views

How did the SVXY ETF (-1x VIX) survive a 115% jump in VIX?

The SVXY ETF is a "-1x" short exposure to the VIX, rebalanced daily. Very importantly, it is an ETF, and not an ETN. As an ETF, its holdings are fully transparent and posted on the fund sponsor's ...
Alex R's user avatar
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2 answers
702 views

Why does VIX need to calculate the Forward term?

From the reference, the Vix Whitepaper of CBOE, I found the formula of VIX. There are two terms. The first one is focusing on the info from Option contracts. And the second one is focusing on the ...
Carl Zheng's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
838 views

How is implied volatility derived?

How to compute Implied Volatility Calculation? The above link shows that there multiple ways to calculate implied volatility. My question is that for most of the common data sources like Bloomberg, ...
qwer's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
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Trading a synthetic replication of the VVIX (volatility of VIX)

In the same spirit as this question: Trading a synthetic replication of the VIX index. The VVIX tracks the volatility of the VIX. One cannot directly buy and sell the VVIX index and, as opposed to ...
Victor's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
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How do market makers hedge VIX index options?

With equity options, many market makers hedge by buying or selling the underlying asset in correspondence with the option's delta. For example, if the market maker wrote 1 call option with a delta of ...
CQM's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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Does Bakshi, Kapadia and Madan (2003) VIX building approach underestimate volatility?

From a paper that shortly addresses an alternative approach to VIX-like index building: To test this approach, I've built a fake book of B&S options with constant volatility equal to $\sigma=20\%$...
Lisa Ann's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
214 views

How are VIX futures being priced when the VIX itself is not being calculated because of circuit breakers

I see that CBOE has halted trading all SPX options, which means the VIX cannot be calculated. Yet VIX futures are still trading and we are very close to the last trade date for the March contract. I ...
Chechy Levas's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Pricing VIX Futures

In a 2006 paper Zhang and Zhu propose a model for VIX and VIX Futures based on Heston. I am struggling in understanding how they get equation 6 and 8 (where they define the parameters). Can anyone ...
Davide's user avatar
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4 answers
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VIX options historical data

I'm looking at these data: call and put options on VIX. I'm interested in daily quotes (all strikes and maturities) for - at least - 2009/10. Could you list link of possible sources? and possibily ...
Gabriele Pompa's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
504 views

How many options would be required to dynamically replicate the VIX nowadays?

The VIX is a portfolio of OTM options on the SPX with non-zero quotes. From CBOE white-paper: Only SPX options quoted with non-zero bid prices are used in the VIX Index calculation. [...] As ...
Davide L.'s user avatar
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5 votes
4 answers
825 views

The VIX Flip Indicator

I came across this article discussing how the VIX Flip Indicator tracks the fear of investors. It seems to be an interesting tool, which I would like to investigate. The calculation of this indicator ...
QFi's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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How to compute 30/60/90-day Implied Volatility?

I want to calculate the 30/60/90/180 day 100% moneyness implied volatility for a stock. I think I know how to do it but would like to share my thought processes with the group to verify I'm on the ...
Chuck Remes's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
207 views

VIX future's lower and upper bounds

A Tale of Two Indices, by Carr and Wu (Jrl. of Derivatives, Spring 2006) As per the above paper of Carr and Wu (page 24 and 25), the price of a VIX future has for lower bound the fair strike of a ...
Wyngarden83's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
467 views

Effect of Vol-of-Vol on VIX

What is the effect of vol-of-vol of an underlying on the VIX Index? The VIX is computed as hedging portfolio of log contracts to isolate pure volatility exposure without specifying an underlying ...
zuiqo's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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Replicating Log Contract - Errors Introduced by Jumps

In the GS Research Note about Volatility Swaps, it is shown that you can replicate a pure variance exposure (hedge) with only vanilla calls and puts, primarily thanks to the Carr-Madan formula of ...
Jared's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
997 views

VXV vs. VIX futures: arbitrage opportunities?

At a first glance, VXV and VIX futures should not be compared at all: VXV is an underlying index, whilst VIX futures are derivatives written on a different underlying index, that is, VIX. As instance,...
Lisa Ann's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
349 views

When calculating VIX, how to deal with the problem of asymmetry of put and call data?

I'm trying to calculate the VIX index according to the methodology of CBOE. I am looking at commodity options. I found that at some time, like at this minute, there are 13 call options out of the ...
Joker Chair's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
177 views

Nested volatility

The introduction VIX options makes the concept of "volatility of volatility" a real life concept. The idea of "nested volatility" seems interesting, and I am wondering if there are any academic ...
Sam Li's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
2k views

How was the old VIX calculated?

Today VIX is computed based on near- and next- term options series which fall into the time period of [23, 37] days. That is what it is now, when they use SPX weekly, so they have options expiring ...
Oleg's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
748 views

Correlation Gold and SPX in BBG

I was always under the impression that gold as a safe haven was more or less inversely correlated to the general market. After using the HRA function in Bloomberg I saw that the correlation is just -...
Jorisdrees's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
7k views

VIX intraday data

Where I can high-frequency intraday data on VIX? Is it available on Bloomberg Terminals? I see many questions posted on Quant.stackexechange about VIX options therefore I am sure someone knows where I ...
CharlesM's user avatar
  • 493
4 votes
1 answer
288 views

Futures short interests vs open interests

I came across this article talking about "short interests" in VIX futures. My question is what does "short interest" even mean here? My understanding is that the futures are not "issued" (opposite ...
CuriousMind's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
594 views

Contango and backwardation in VIX futures

I understand the meanings of contango and backwardation, but I'm trying to better understand the theory behind what creates each. For future readers of this question, here are the examples from the ...
SuperCodeBrah's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

VIX ETP Net Vega exposure

Does anyone know the calculation that these EQD desks are using to calculate the net Vega exposure of the VIX ETPs? I am assuming it involves shares outstanding in each ETP, the value of a 30 day ...
Patrick Hennessy's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Modelling VIX Futures for risk management

I would like to model VIX futures. The aim is not pricing but risk management. Thus I want to get risk measures like volatility right and be able to accurately calculate correlations when the VIX ...
Richi Wa's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
331 views

How does VIX interpolate implied volatilities?

In the CBOE VIX white paper (direct link to PDF), it is explained that once the implied volatility of the near and next-term options $\sigma_1^2$, $\sigma_2^2$ are found, the constant-maturity 30-day ...
rubik's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
132 views

How to find a probability of VIX moving from one price to another

I asked a similar question on here with a bounty. I decided to modify the question to simplify what I am trying to do. Is there a package on MATLAB or some other tool where I can find the probability ...
Wolfy's user avatar
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