Updating the Legacy of Post-2009 Corrections

Of all the periodic themes that I update in this space, the one that always surprises me by how strong of a reception it generates is a table that I call the VIX and More 2009-12 SPX Peak to Trough Pullback Summary – of which a current version is appended below.

The table is a chronology of sorts of all the significant pullbacks since the March 2009 bottom in stocks. I have tweaked the definition of pullback a little so that it only includes pullbacks from new highs. For that reason, there are no significant pullbacks since the SPX made a new high for the year back on September 6^th. That being said, I am including the price action of the last two days as a provisional entry in red at the bottom of the table, with data as of one quarter of an hour to go in the trading day. Generally it takes a pullback of at least 2.5% - 3.0% to warrant inclusion in this table.

I suspect that the main reason investors enjoy this table is that it gives them some historical context for how the markets have recently been pulling back and thus helps to set expectations about how far the current or subsequent correction may extend. Prior to the current mini-pullback, the median pullback was 5.6%, while the mean pullback stood at 7.4%, thanks to several sharper corrections. Applied to Friday’s high of SPX 1474, these translate to a pullback to SPX 1392 or SPX 1365, respectively. Of course, this is where the “past performance is no guarantee of future results” type of disclaimer should be inserted, but historical parameters can help to set expectations.

Factoring in the Draghi and Bernanke puts, as well as the probability and magnitude of a hard landing in China, a reversal of fortune in the euro zone, a worsening of the fiscal cliff problem, flare-ups in various geopolitical hotspots, etc. may make predicting the current direction of the market even more difficult and perilous than usual.

That being said, given the 210 point rise in the SPX in a little over three months, investors cannot be faulted for exhibiting more than the usual amount of caution during the remainder of the year.

[As an aside, I love the way pundits talk about a correction, as if to imply that the market has been wrong about a recent bullish move and it is time for cooler heads and more reasonable valuations to have their way. Certainly there is no reason why there cannot be these same type of “corrections” when markets become oversold, but good luck finding those who talk about stocks correcting upward.]

Related posts:

• A Look at the Pullbacks of the 2009-2012 Bull Market
• What If Stocks Decline?
• A VIX Risk Reversal
• Why Not Point Hedges?
• The Case for VQT
• The Year in Safe Havens
• The VIX as a Hedging Tool
• Performance of Volatility-Hedged ETPs
• Comparing SPLV and VQT
• Performance of VIX ETP Hedges in Current Selloff
• Dynamic VIX ETPS as Long-Term Hedges
• Three New Risk Control ETFs from Direxion
• The Economic Data Cliff

Disclosure(s): none

Updates to VIX ETP Landscape: Add VIXH; Drop 12 UBS Products

Two thirds of 2012 passed before we saw the first new VIX-based exchange-traded product and it turned out to be an interesting one: the First Trust CBOE S&P 500 Tail Hedge Fund ETF (VIXH), which was introduced at the end of August. VIXH is essentially a portfolio consisting of 99-100% of SPY, augmented by a dynamic allocation of 0-1% of VIX options, with the amount of options determined by the level of the VIX at the beginning of each VIX expiration cycle. This is the first VIX-based ETP to included VIX options among its holdings and it is notable that this product bucks the recent trend and is an ETF instead of an ETN. There are other features of VIXH worth discussing and I will discuss these in future posts.

As the VIX ETP product space expands a bit, it also contracts a great deal, as UBS has elected to close 12 of its ETRACS ETNs, effective tomorrow, September 11, 2012. These UBS products failed to gain sufficient volume and assets to make these viable over the long haul, but when AAVX retires, it will do so with the best VIX ETP track record of all-time. This product was launched on September 8, 2011 and is up about 120% in the year plus since it was launched. [See ETRACS Volatility ETPs for the full list of ETPs that will be closed.]

The graphic below is my periodic update of the VIX exchange-traded products (ETP) landscape, using the y-axis to denote leverage and the x-axis to indicate target maturity. In addition to the explanatory notes in the key at the bottom, it is worth noting that I use font color to distinguish between ETFs (black) and ETNs (blue). Also, I have used a parenthetical one letter code to identify the issuer: B = Barclays; C = Citibank; F = First Trust; P = ProShares; U = UBS; and V = VelocityShares.

[As an aside, regular posting should resume again this week…]

Related posts:

• VIX ETP Returns for Q1 2012
• VIX Exchange-Traded Products: The Year in Review, 2011
• VXX, VXZ, XIV and ZIV During Eleven Months of a Sideways VIX
• A Monthly Comparison of VXX and VXZ
• Options on UVXY and SVXY Open Up New VIX ETP Trading Approaches
• Dynamic VIX ETPs as Long-Term Hedges
• ETRACS Volatility ETPs
• Four Key Drivers of the Price of TVIX
• Will TVIX Go to Zero?

Disclosure(s): long VIX at time of writing