VIX Daily Update: A Wild Ride for Volatility This Week

The CBOE VIX (NYSEARCA:VXX) declined on Friday, but not before fluctuating wildly amid volatile swings in the stock market.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index closed down 14% at 28.67, on a scale of 1-100 where 20 represents the historic mean. The so-called “fear index” traded between 29.15 and 40.06 on Friday, reflecting huge fluctuations in the value of equities.

The large-cap S&P 500 Index (NYSEARCA:SPY) finished 1.5% higher on Friday.

Major VIX ETFs:

iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN: (NYSEARCA:VXX) Designed to offer exposure to the S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures Index Total Return. The Index uses CBOE Volatility Index futures by way of a long position in the first and second month VIX Futures contracts. VXX declined 9.5%.

VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short Term Futures ETN: (NYSEARCA:XIV) to track the inverse daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures Index. XIV advanced 5.5%.

ProShares Ultra Short Term VIX Futures: (NYSEARCA:UVXY) UVXY is designed to deliver 2X (leveraged) returns of the day’s moves in the S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures Index. It tacks the two front months of the futures contract. UVXY declined 16.5%.

VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short Term Futures ETN (NYSEARCA:TVIX) TVIX is a leveraged VIX ETN designed to deliver 2X the returns of the daily S&P 500 Short Term Futures Index. TVIX declined 16.3%.