Markets hate uncertainty.
Its why volatility is still creeping higher. For example, none of us are quite sure of what could happen with the Russia-Ukraine fiasco, skyrocketing inflation, or the Federal Reserve. There’s the potential for food shortages, says The Economic Collapse blog.
There’s still uncertainty over COVID, and now a new bird flu plague.
In fact, according to Successful Farming:
“For the first time, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was confirmed in Minnesota, the top turkey-producing state in the nation, said agricultural officials over the weekend. Some 14.6 million birds in domestic flocks have died of HPAI or in culling of infected herds to reduce the spread of the viral disease this year.”
That’s nuts.
So, how can we prepare for higher volatility? Here are three ways.
ProShares VIX Mid-Term Futures ETF (VIXM)
At $31 a share with an expense ratio of 0.85%, the VIXM ETF tracks the performance of the S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures Index. Along the way, the ETF allows investors to “profit from increases in the expected volatility of the S&P 500, as measured by the prices of VIX futures contracts,” as noted by ProShares.
ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (UVXY)
At $12.75 with an expense ratio of 0.95%, the UVXY ETF was designed to match 1.5x the daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index.
ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY)
At $16 with an expense ratio of 0.85%, the VIXY ETF tracks the performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index. The index tracks the returns of a collection of futures contracts that have a weighted average of expiration to one month, according to Financhill.com.
Markets
- The Dow is up 27 points to 34,745
- The S&P 500 is up about 10 points to 4,548.25
- The NASDAQ is up about 48 points to 14,907.75
- Gold prices are up $7.84 to $1,932.61
- Bitcoin is down half a point to $46,124.75
- Oil prices are up $2.29 to $101.60
- The VIX is up slightly to 20.23
Trading Tips
Cannabis stocks could see higher highs.
The House passed legislation that could legalize cannabis in the U.S.
According to CNBC, “The legislation, dubbed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, passed in the House last year, but did not move forward in the Senate. In addition to decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level, the bill would establish procedures for expunging previous convictions from people’s records and impose a tax on the sale of cannabis products.”
Here’s how we can potentially profit from that news.
Insider Buying: WeWork Inc. (WE)
Keep an eye on shares of WeWork Inc. (WE)—a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces. Over the last few days, CEO Sandeep Mathrani bought 30,000 shares at an average price of $6.55, for $200,000.
In addition, Credit Suisse analyst Andy Grobler said the company’s fourth-quarter earnings presentation “demonstrated improving occupancy across the portfolio,” as mentioned by Barron’s. “WeWork’s outlook for 2022 includes a 28% increase in physical memberships, a 34% increase in revenues, and an uptick in occupancy to 75% to 80% from 63% in fiscal 2021.”
In Q4 2021, the company said revenues were up 99% year over year to $12.49 million. Net income was $4,126,028 in Q4 2021 compared to net loss of $5,469,103 in Q4 2020. Revenue in Fiscal 2021 was $38,581,377, an increase of $17,299,878 or 81% compared to Fiscal 2020. Net loss in Fiscal 2021 was $842,922 compared to net loss of $4,416,476 in Fiscal 2020.