Congrats on SARA, I'm seeing alot of good ones bouncing off the bottom, but I'm still doing well with the breakouts. VSR and MNOV were good breakouts for me. I'll probably switch to scanning for bottom plays when the market confirms the daily pincher, might be a while, but hopefully it will happen soon.
Regarding the VIX products. It's really not as complicated as some make it out to be. I have explained it several times before. I use the analogy that it's like going to the ER vs waiting to see a doc. People get sent home from the ER all the time and all they have to show for it is a big bill, but they think they have a serious problem and of course it does quite often save their life. The VIX works alot like that. If traders are paying more for this months contracts vs next month, they see an emergency and they're willing to pay the extra money for immediate protection. They might be wrong and they'll lose that money, but if they are right it can save their account. Some funds have to stay in the market, so this is a good way to keep them afloat during crashes.
Traders here aren't using it for protection though, they are using it like a stock with a daily chart. That can work out when the VIX is in backwardation, which it currently is, but when the VIX was in contango and TVIX was over $7 when the pumping first started it was a terrible trading strategy. Even worse was telling people to hold and be patient while it was in contango.
You know the saying about leading a horse to water. There's a reason they use a horse as an example instead of a mule.
