Bear train caboose

We're in a rut, trading in a somewhat narrow range in lieu of great news and additional horrific news. For now, a small position in VXX is all I have. Except for a one-hour span on Monday (or was it Tuesday?), VXX and AAPL have mirrored each other like a fine tango pair. During that hour, they traded mostly in the same weak direction with little volume. But today, they were definitely at odds with each other again, and this is why I have liked this as a pair/hedge before.

Charts don't pertain to leveraged ETFs like VXX as they do to "normal" stocks, but it's still a useable visual to put things a bit in perspective.

Here's a longer-term look at VXX. Six months in VXX galaxian time is 60,000 years on Planet Earth.

My small position in VXX leaves me in 72% cash, 28% long volatility (VXX).

VXX 6-month chart (daily)

The 3-month chart gives a better look at VXX, as if it actually responds to Bollinger bands. My guess is 99% of VXX traders hold their shares for less than 3 months. More like 3 hours.

VXX 3-month (daily)

VXX 2-day (5-minute bars) vs. AAPL, FCX, TLT, GLD, S&P 500

FCX, a copper king, was a huge gainer early in the day and seemed set to close with strength. But it faded with the rest of the market. Safe havens like GLD and TLT were middling at best, while VXX closed hard and fast. I missed a chance to enter at 30.50 and 30.75 even though I smelled bull wimpishness at mid-day. I'm content, though, to rely more on action and movement rather than hunches.

Candlestick analysis: Again, VXX is not a good read by charts or technical analysis. Still, noteworthy that it's a "Sell If" (American Bulls). Shares are at 31.57 after hours. Often trades down in the next day's premarket from afterhours price, but I may still hold here.