Top Posts of 2010

It is hard to believe that I have been blogging for four years. Initially I just thought I’d take a couple of minutes during the slow period of the trading day to capture a thought or two for archival purposes, but that original intent has continued to morph into something far beyond what I imagined.

These days most of what I post is for the benefit of readers rather than to aid my personal recollection, but I like to keep things eclectic, provocative and visually interesting for the benefit of all.

The end of the year is a great time to reflect on what readers have found to be of interest at VIX and More. Each year new themes seem to emerge among the top 25 most read posts in this space. This year the dominant themes seem to incorporate the VIX-based ETNs (specifically VXX), contango, the VIX futures term structure and put to call ratios. The #1 post of the year, The Education of a Trader, is one of the few times I have talked about my own trading, but I imagine it is the universality of the message that struck a chord with most readers.

[I hope it goes without saying that clicking on any of the hyperlinks above will pop up a list of all posts I have tagged with that label.]

Thanks to all who have contributed in one way or another to the content here. I like to say that not every day shows a profit, but every day should make you smarter, which will help the bottom line in the days and weeks ahead.

1. The Education of a Trader
2. Chart of the Week: VXX vs. VIX
3. Chart of the Week: CBOE Equity Put to Call Ratio Nears All-Time Low
4. Rule of 16 and VIX of 40
5. VIX Futures Contango Soars
6. Chart of the Week: VXX Celebrates One Year of Futility
7. Short-Term and Long-Term Implications of the 30% VIX Spike
8. VIX Futures Contango Bubble
9. Largest Pullback Since March 2009 Rally Began
10. Chart of the Week: Total Put to Call Ratio
11. Yesterday’s Unusually Low ISEE Equity Call to Put Ratio
12. VXX 1-4 Reverse Split Reminder, After Today’s Close
13. Chart of the Week: Ten-Year Treasury Note Yield
14. Charting the Selloff with an Andrews Pitchfork
15. Direxion and S&P Bring Dynamic Volatility Hedging to ETFs with VEQTOR
16. VIX Approaches Pre-2008 Record Highs
17. SPX Pullback Now Second Largest Since March 2009
18. XXV and the New VIX ETN Landscape
19. Some Favorite ETF Sites
20. SPX Historical Volatility at Two Year Low
21. Chart of the Week: The Flight-to-Safety Trade
22. Mamis Overbought-Oversold Indicator
23. VIX Futures: What Were/Are They Thinking?
24. Bears Emboldened By Low CBOE Equity Put to Call Ratio
25. Technical Resistance Looms in the S&P 500 Index

For more on related subjects, readers are encouraged to visit the posts tagged with the label archival or check out:

• Top Posts of 2009
• Top Posts of 2008
• Top 25 Most Read Posts of 2007
• The Post of the Month: An Informal History of VIX and More

Finally, I have tagged a select group of posts (including six from 2010) as worthy of a somewhat arbitrary “hall of fame” designation. These are all posts in which, regardless of popularity, I believe the content reflects some of the best efforts on this site.

Disclosure(s): short VXX at time of writing