ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF (NYSEArca: VIXM) traded nearly 1.7 million shares on Thursday. The average daily volume over the past three months is about 83,500 shares.
VXX is the largest volatility-linked product with a market cap of about $1.1 billion, according to issuer Barclays. The exchange traded note’s price was all over the place on Thursday in a volatile session. It actually closed with a slight loss after rallying as much as 6%.
“After spending most of the year in hibernation, the CBOE Volatility Index is back,” writes Ron DeLegge at ETFguide. Wall Street’s fear gauge has soared more than 25% over the past seven trading sessions and could provide a hint of what’s in store for investors in 2013, he said.
“While it’s still too early to determine whether rising volatility will morph into a longer-term trend, the short-term trend is up. And like a sleeping giant, the VIX is starting to move,” DeLegge wrote.
Overall trading volume in the market Thursday was unusually elevated for a traditionally slow week.
“The week between Christmas and the New Year is historically the lowest dollar volume of the year. Today’s volume however absolutely crushed the volume record of any day in between Christmas and The New Year going back to 2008,” said Chris Hempstead, director of ETF execution services at WallachBeth Capital, in a note Thursday.