VIX Short Term Futures vs the S&P 500 (VXX): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, VXX has underperformed the S&P 500 by 5.6 points. Here is where that puts it in the market rotation — updated daily.
Where VXX sits on the rotation map
VIX Short Term Futures highlighted against the 11 broad S&P 500 sectors. Vertical: 1-month spread vs the S&P 500. Horizontal: the longer, time-shifted window — the methodology explains the math.
VXX vs SPY: head-to-head returns
VXX (vix short term futures) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means VXX won that window.
Data as of 2026-07-22 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
VIX Short Term Futures (VXX) is out of favor: it trails the S&P 500 on both rotation windows — 5.6 points behind over the past month and 28.1 points behind over the longer, time-shifted window. That is the lagging quadrant. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #89 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, VXX's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. VXX's relative-strength line has broken below its long-term average — the long-term outperformance trend is no longer intact. Both signals point the same direction here: the market is not rewarding this group on either horizon.
The thing to watch from here is the one-month spread: laggards only become interesting when the recent window turns positive first — until then, the market is voting elsewhere.
VIX Short Term Futures vs the market — common questions
Is vix short term futures outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, no: over the past month VXX has underperformed the S&P 500 by 5.6 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is VXX?
VXX is iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN, the fund Zensei uses to measure the vix short term futures group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
What quadrant is vix short term futures in right now?
As of the latest daily data, vix short term futures is in the lagging quadrant — trailing the S&P 500 on both windows. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track vix short term futures against the whole market
Zensei Edge maps 100+ sectors and themes against the S&P 500 — with the stocks inside each one, rotation history and alerts when leadership changes hands.