I haven’t given up on the lottery ticket we still hold — four 19 Jan 28 calls acquired for 0.67 last week when VXX touched a longstanding bear-market target at 26.32. On Monday, after noodling around near that Hidden Pivot support for three days, VXX slipped below the water line, trading as low as 25.76 intraday before closing at 25.98. The overshoot may not look like much on the chart, but it amounts to a so-far 2.1% fall beneath my benchmark. It is astounding to me that such a clear and compelling Hidden Pivot has evinced no bounce whatsoever. In any event the options are keepers, bought as a high-leverage speculation that VXX would trampoline from somewhere very near 26.32. If it does not we will have exhausted all possible targets of interest, and it’s unlikely we will try bottom-fishing again in the foreseeable future.

There are some bigger downtrending patterns than the one I’ve used to project 26.32, but all of them yield D targets below zero.  In the past, this has sometimes implied, as it did in case of Bear Stearns and Lehman shares in 2007, that the companies were bound for bankruptcy. However, in this case it likely means VXX will continue to fall toward zero until it is reverse-split yet again by the DaBoyz so that more retail suckers can be enticed to buy put and call options from them.  They’ve been making enviable money with this shell-game for years, but it is predictable that most of it will be wiped away in just a few days when VXX finally explodes, as it surely must. But with the magic power of our 26.32 support very nearly spent, there is no point in our dreaming about catching that bottom and being on the profitable side when VXX’s day of reckoning finally comes. _______ UPDATE (Jan 10, 5:49 p.m.): The volatility gods abhor nothing so much as a failed sell-off attempt that gives way to a weak rally. That’s exactly what happened on Wednesday, and it caused VXX to collapse intraday, reversing downward by a whopping 1.10 points so far. I will stick with the suggestion that VXX be treated, traded and disrespected as though it were headed to zero.  That is what it was designed to do and will continue to do until such time as the Masters of the Universe reverse-split it. Once VXX has been newly re-fattened like foie gras, DaBoyz will be able to sell option juice against it just like in the good old days.  Whatever the case, we have no exposure now and are unlikely to have any, any time soon. _______ UPDATE (Jan 16, 2:03 p.m.): For whatever mysterious reason, VXX has popped today, so far by 1.29 points. Consider this a bulletin to remind you that we still have a horse in the race in the form of an out-of-the-money-but-not-by-much call option with three days left on it. If it should rise from the dead, sell out your position as you please. ______ UPDATE (Jan 18, 8:23 p.m.): Our calls were keepers to begin with, so plan on playing it down to the  wire. Check with your broker to determine when you’ll need to be out of them.