Why Buying the VIX May Be a Risky Bet
February 04, 2016 at 15:16 PM EST
There’s little doubt that the financial markets have been volatile over the past several months. This has helped the CBOE’s Volatility Index (VIX) reach new highs in recent history. For the average investor, the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN ( VXX B+ ) and the Credit Suisse VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short Term ETN ( TVIX C+ ) have become popular instruments to profit from the chaos – rising 25% and 45% as of February 3 so far this year, respectively.