With all the talk about volatility these days many traders are looking deeper into specific volatilities for their individual investment choices. Today we will look at some new ways to see volatility specific to a particular investment.
The S&P 500 volatility index has been toe topic of conversation by the media almost daily. Many traders utilize a volatility product in one fashion or another. Weather to measure the level of fear, or to use as a hedge of some sort, volatility is used by many. To use simply as a measure most will look at the VIX which is the overall index for volatility. To trade volatility you are most likely aware of the (NYSE: VXX) and maybe a leveraged product such as the (NASDAQ: UVXY) which recently reverse split. But what if you want to look at the volatility of another product like Gold, or Oil, or the Nasdaq?
If one were considering an investment in Gold and wanted to see the overall volatility of the product then the VIX would be helpful but not detailed. The GVZ is the volatility index for Gold itself. How volatile has the product been? This can help you.
If Oil were your product of choice then you could use the OVX which has gained in popularity over the last few years and is frequently mentioned by financial media.
There are many individual, volatility indices that can be used to measure volatility more specifically. Is this something that the average investor needs to worry about? Probably not, but if you include options in your portfolio or want to consider whether it's time to add or reduce a position then these can be very helpful. Currently the Chicago Board of Options Exchange , "CBOE" is the source for these indices along with many others. For more on this visit their website and search "Volatility Indexes".