I’ve got this pairs trade (short /ES against short /VX) established now with single positions as an experiment. I’ve been in the short /ES call awhile and selling puts against it to raise basis. Just before the FED meeting I added the short /VX out in Feb. Didn’t use front month since it tends to react more violently to volatility spikes. Once Feb becomes front month I’ll probably roll it back out to a safer position…we’ll see. This should capture contango until we get a spike. Once this /VX gets slightly more profitable (up nicely already) I should be able to set a stop on it at breakeven.

So…assuming all my short /ES put positions expire and I get assigned the ITM call I’ll be sitting at:

Short /ES @ 2202.35 basis (slight loser but nice hedge)
Short Feb /VX @ 16.90 (assuming no spike this should gradually decay towards spot VIX at a grand per point)

and to further raise short /ES basis:

SOLD /ES JAN 17 (Wk3) 2180 PUT @ 10.25