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Jun 17
4 min

Can VIX futures Contango Backwardation "time" the S&P 500?

I've made no secret of the fact that I believe the most important aspect of long term investing is avoiding excessive drawdowns. Mathema...

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Brent Osachoff

May 20
4 min

Where did contango go? VIX futures expiration cycle example

I get a lot of people asking how to calculate VIX contango and why it sometimes makes big changes day to day. Since we saw a big change ...

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Brent Osachoff

May 18
3 min

Defense at the cost of offense? - TPS top 10 gains and losses

VTS Community, One of the core principles in my overarching investing philosophy is that I believe it's far more important to be conserva...

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Brent Osachoff

May 12
1 min

Don't buy TVIX - It's highly leveraged and risky

In this video we look at TVIX performance, it's leverage factor, and how it functions in an attempt to finally convince people that there...

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Brent Osachoff

May 10
1 min

Buy & hold Short Volatility does not work, here's why

Let me explain why neither Long Volatility nor Short Volatility are effective buy & hold trades in the long run. Want to join the Awesome...

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Brent Osachoff

Apr 26
1 min

Watch this before adding leverage to trading - Risk management

The allure of big profits causes a lot of people to leverage up their trades without fully understanding that leverage is a two way stree...

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Brent Osachoff

Apr 21
5 min

Read this before considering adding leverage to VTS strategies

Due to the sheer number of questions I get regarding adding leverage to the VTS strategies, I will (reluctantly) add leveraged sub-page...

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Brent Osachoff

Apr 19
1 min

Did TVIX go from 2.8 billion to 200? Here's why it'll never hit all time high

If you look at charts of the 3 main Long Volatility ETPs, TVIX, UVXY, and VXX have all gone from extremely high levels in the past to jus...

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Brent Osachoff

Apr 18
5 min

Short S&P 500 instead of Gold?

Question: Why don't you short the S&P 500 instead of buying Gold? (VTS Tactical Balanced strategy) This question is most commonly asked...

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Brent Osachoff

Apr 16
6 min

Real performance vs backtests

VTS Community, I've added several new questions to the website Q&A, but I'm also starting in on some of the more interesting ones, and I w...

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Brent Osachoff

Apr 12
1 min

Full Time Trading is not smart - Don't go bankrupt!

I see so many people out there expressing a desire to be a full time trader, as if it's some kind of ideal lifestyle or something. In th...

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Brent Osachoff

Apr 2
1 min

4 ways to beat the upcoming "Employment Crisis"

We are facing an unprecedented slowdown in the global economy, and unfortunately many people are losing their jobs. It's tragic, it's sc...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 30
4 min

The best Offense is a good Defense

VTS Community, "The best defense is a good offense" I'm sure you've heard this saying before right? The idea that the best path to victo...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 29
1 min

2 ways to Short the VIX

VTS Community, The VIX index is currently as high as it was during the financial crisis in 2008, but we know at some point it will come d...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 26
5 min

Here's why "Correlations" matter

VTS Community: Correlation and why it's so important: Studies show the average investor only makes about a 2-3% rate of return in the lon...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 23
1 min

TVIX is crashing! - Here's why

There's a lot of confusion recently about why the Long Volatility ETP called TVIX is down, given that the S&P 500 is also crashing. Shou...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 23
1 min

Awesome Stock Market Indicator - Cash VIX Term Structure

In this video I break down what the Cash VIX Term Structure is, and how it can potentially be used to time the stock market, both good pe...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 23
1 min

How to tell if the Crash is over? VIX Futures Term Structure

Market crashes can be very scary, but they can also prove to be great buying opportunities for those who identify when the selling pressu...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 16
1 min

Short Volatility got Crushed! - Here's a better way to do it

I'm always warning traders of the dangers of shorting volatility by directly taking short positions in the long volatility ETPs such as V...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 12
1 min

Short VXX vs 3x Long Stocks - Which is better?

Volatility has spiked to the highest level since the 08' financial crisis. There may be a few brave people out there looking to time a r...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 6
7 min

Long Volatility is a frustrating trade - Let me show you why

VTS Community, Everybody who dips a toe in the volatility pool eventually has dreams of hitting that perfect buy on something like VXX ju...

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Brent Osachoff

Mar 5
4 min

All VTS Strategy Trade Frequency

We have a very large VTS community (members from 57 countries now) and everyone is going to have their own "ideal" trade frequency. - ...

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Brent Osachoff

Feb 27
4 min

I'm not a bull or a bear - I manage risk and trade the market we have

This latest stock market crash has yet again brought one fundamental truism of investing into the light. It's something that really shou...

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Brent Osachoff

Feb 26
5 min

An introduction to beta - What is the VIX:SPX beta?

In the investing world, beta is generally referring to an individual security's return in relation to the movement of the underlying benc...

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