VIX Mid-Term Futures: SPY RSI predicts VIX (3 tickers)
Today’s Change (Apr 20, 2026)
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About
Rules-based VIX strategy: uses SPY’s short-term RSI to time when to own VIX funds (ZVOL for quick spikes, VXZ for mid-term moves) or stay in PULS (cash-like). Skips entries when UVXY shows vol is overheated; blends 2–10 day signals daily.
Goal: profit from moves in the VIX (the market’s “fear index”). Each day it reads SPY’s 2–10 day RSI (a 0–100 speedometer of recent gains/losses).
- If RSI < 25 (market stressed): buy ZVOL (leveraged short‑term VIX) unless UVXY’s RSI > 70 (vol overheated); then hold PULS (cash‑like).
- If RSI > 80 (market very calm/hot): buy VXZ (mid‑term VIX).
- Else: hold PULS.
Blends these signals (tilted to shortest lookbacks) and rebalances daily.
Out-of-sample Sharpe 2.60 vs SPY 0.83; annualized return 28.68% vs 14.82%; max drawdown 5.70% vs 18.76%; Calmar ~5.03. Higher risk-adjusted gains with much smaller drawdowns by timing VIX against SPY.
1M
3M
6M
YTD
1Y
3Y
Max
Performance
Compared to selected benchmarks
| Alpha | Beta | R2 | R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.27 | 0.13 | 0.04 | 0.19 |
Performance Metrics
| Cumulative Return | Annualized Return | Trailing 1M Return | Trailing 3M Return | Sharpe Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78.19% | 21.36% | 6.16% | 5.09% | 1.35 | |
| 136.89% | 33.51% | 0.98% | 7.25% | 2.89 |
Initial Investment
$10,000.00
Final Value
$23,688.93Regulatory Fees
$102.45
Total Slippage
$543.11
Invest in this strategy
OOS Start Date
Nov 29, 2024
Trading Setting
Daily
Type
Stocks
Category
Volatility, vix futures etps, tactical, rsi, ensemble, daily rebalance, cash overlay