VIX ETF's Running (VXX, VXZ)

The VIX is moving sharply higher, gaining nearly 5% today, as it's a light volume trading day and traders are locking in profits, before the holiday. The VIX backed ETFs are performing well, thought not as well as they should be. iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures TM ETN

, and iPath S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN

are moving higher, both gaining more than 1%. The issue with these ETN's, is that they are not long term hedges against a rising market because even when the VIX rises, these ETFs may fall, based on the way they are structured. It is best to intraday trade these products or at best, no more than a few day hold. They are not something to use as hedges, at least in my opinion based off prior experiences.