The VIX has maintained an average 20.36 over its 21-year lifespan.
Exchange traded products have helped increase volume and interest in VIX futures, with volume on VIX futures contracts hitting a record 533,430 contracts last week on the CBOE. To put this in perspective, trading on VIX futures crossed 100,000 for the first time on June 16.
“VIX futures are more expensive than what the market expects they’ll be worth in a month, and that suggests that investors are betting on a decline in the VIX,” remarked Will Lloyd, head of index products at VelocityShares.
VelocityShares Daily 2X VIX Short-Term ETN (NYSEArca: TVIX) was up about 30% on Thursday.
For more information on market volatility, visit our volatility category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.