If this doesn't look like a #proshares inside job, I don't know what is. Everyone lost huge, even though we are seeing VIX decline today. Noone deserves this. Lawsuits soon for sure, especially due to the fact #proshares decided to resume trading, unlike XIV. What a mess.
people lost money heavily. Must lawsuit against svxy dropping huge. some fishy.
ethprotrade
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Two researchers found evidence of manipulation at the University of Texas Austin back in May of 2017. They published the findings, which are well outlined here if anyone is interested:
I'm not suggesting this is what occurred, but it's an interesting read.
swerver123
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I do think there was manipulation here. I don't know if it was proshares or if was rouge traders. That fact that the front 2 months in the VIX futures dropped 85% in less than an hour after market close is way too suspicious. This comes less than a week after 3 European banks were fined for manipulating the Gold Futures markets. Gold Futures is a far more liquid market than the Vix. I am guessing there were some traders who bought puts in the XIV then after hours hammered the out of the money puts in the SPX. I too am in the same boat as you. I bought 75 shares at about 90/share at around 1:30 PM. A stop-loss is irrelevant when it closed at $70 and opened at $11. Even if there really was fraud and a lawsuit it will be years before people see that money. Back in 2006 or so, I owned shares in Broadcom, I think it was. There was some lawsuit for something the board did. It was a long time ago so I don't remember the facts, but it was a good three years before I saw any of that money.
the_get_man
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Proshares has not done anything wrong and they explicitly explain that inverse ETF's have a high degree of risk and that investing in such an asset is of their own accord. It is not the fault of proshares that traders do not take time to understand the risks. Proshares cannot affect volatility to the degree that we have seen in the last couple days so no it doesn't look like an inside job.
The risk is simple:
SVXY tracks the inverse of volitility or VIX. As a trader you should know that bullish strategies have limited downside risk and unlimited profit potential. Since this etf tracks the inverse of that function, then if volatility goes up 100% or more, then the inverse ETF can go to zero giving back gains in a day that took years of low volatility to accumulate by a spike in the VIX especially when the inverse is at ATH making any spike in the VIX much more risky and significant.
XIV did not resume trading because they liquidated the asset.
Proshares is at least giving investers the chance to make a decision for themselves.
I hope that traders to not put the blame on any of the inverse ETF's and take responsibility for there investment decisions.
DO NOT INVEST WITHOUT STOPS & A PLAN
samandreasfault
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@the_get_man, THERE ARE NO STOPS AH. MY STOP DID NOT WORK. This is why it is a scam. They knew the retails would get the *%^% end of the stick. If you look at the timing of when this tanked, you can clearly see it was a calculated/timed event. Shut up with your "they did nothing wrong rhetoric". They deserve to get sued if they continue to function as normal after this.
the_get_man
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@samandreasfault, on Feburary 1 the ticker was trading at $125 and 2 trading days later was trading at $73. if your stop didnt get hit after a $52 move, or after significant technical points (ema crossings, ma, supports), that means you where trading without a plan in a risky asset. Whose mistake is that?
They clearly warn investors that the asset is risky and the math is simple on how inverse ETFs can go to $0.
You say they deserver to get sued, and I'm sure some law firm might try, but on what basis:
that volatility spiked across the market and all inverse ETFs conspired to lose there value, based on the function they track which performed as expected, leaving investors (with no plan, no stops, and no clue of the risks associated with the assets they are investing in) with losses?
I am sincere that I hope you and other traders on here didn't lose alot of money. If alot of money was lost I just think instead of blaming someone else it would be more beneficial to learn from this by doing: more due diligence on the risk of assets especially risky ones(any ETF that doesn't track real assets, inverse, and 3x), and always trade with a plan.
samandreasfault
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@the_get_man, I ONLY buy this ETF after the VIX spikes. I started entering 25% at a time sub-100. This has worked for me dozens of times in the past. If you look at the SVXY dips in the past, it is really the only way to play this ETF. This time is completely different and getting tons of news coverage because the ETF/Algos literally broke AH. If it wasn't for this failure, SVXY would be near 100 again.
apaulius1580
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@the_get_man, looks like CS caused the vix future flash cash that inploded itself and svxy.. this is pure manipulation and a law suite is needed to help people recover their money from both CS and proshares..