The VXX exchange-traded note, which aims to track futures on the CBOE Volatility Index, has more than $1bn of investors’ cash. But if you put $100 in at the beginning, you’d struggle to pay for a round of cappucinos with what’s left. That’s why the wires have been humming with bile about the product. Theo Casey dons his judge’s wig and tries to give it a fair trial.
There’s no prize for the most optimistically marketed and overbought financial products, but perhaps there should be. Perhaps the awards could be known as the Hypers.
A retrospective adjudication might come up with:
2007 Icelandic bank bonds
2008 Lehman Brothers Guaranteed Mini Note
2009 United States Oil Fund ETF
Among the pile of nominees for the 2010 Hyper, otherwise known as the Golden Raspberry, is Barclays Capital’s iPath S&P 500 Vix...