February YTD Performance of Our Volatility Indicator

2018 has gotten off to a wild start in the volatility world as volatility exploded higher in early February. The VIX Index recorded a new all-time 1-day gain of 115.6%, followed by a new all-time 1-day loss of -58% on the following day. This resulted in quite a bit of carnage, completely destroying XIV and causing large losses in SVXY.

Below are the equity curves of all strategies YTD 2018, compared to XIV (SVXY).



Our VRP+VXX Bias indicator has taken a hit, with a -6% return after the first two months of the year. The picture looks a little bit worse on Collective2 due to some platform execution errors.

VXX Bias outperformed with a buy of VXX in mid-January, reaching unrealized gains of over 100% YTD before giving quite a bit back to end February at +46%.

SVXY obviously took a hit and is -90% YTD. The standalone VRP strategy got caught holding SVXY/XIV and is tracking at -90% as well.


Cumulatively, VRP+VXX Bias has recorded a +201% gain since we started tracking performance by a third party in February 2016. Meanwhile VXX Bias had a large leap and is now +345% since launch on Collective2.




The "Trading Volatility 1" system is the auto-traded version of our VRP+VXX Bias indicator which we have published daily to Trading Volatility+ subscribers for nearly five years now.

Trading Volatility+ subscribers have access to our VRP and VXX Bias indicators, our intraday indicator data, receive emails with preliminary and final change alerts for each of the indicators as well as our daily summaries, and interact with our private community of volatility traders in the forum. If interested, you can learn more about our services on our Subscribe page.


As always, each day's indicator values, buy/sell triggers, trade performance summary, and equity curves are tracked in the spreadsheets linked at the bottom of our Subscribe page


Additional information on our trading strategy and indicators, including the updated monthly performance tables, can be found on our Strategy page.


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Hypothetical and Simulated Performance Disclaimer
The results are based on simulated or hypothetical performance results that have certain inherent limitations. Unlike the results shown in an actual performance record, these results do not represent actual trading. Also, because these trades have not actually been executed, these results may have under- or over-compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated or hypothetical trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to these being shown. Hypothetical backtest results do not account for any costs associated with trade commissions or subscription costs. Additional performance differences in backtests arise from the methodology of using the 4:00pm ET closing values for XIV, VXX, and ZIV as approximated trade prices for indicators that require VIX and VIX futures to settle at 4:15pm ET


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