The Test Bench › gate

Does VIX9D<VIX actually work?

MARGINAL

Real but small -- not worth what it costs to run.

The claim

Tells you when to be in the market vs. step aside — Various / folklore

What we did

Tested against Buy & hold SPY, same window, 2012–2026 (fair common window).

The result

Result: 0.062 dSharpe (vs buy-hold)

Sharpe 1.00, maxDD -17%, in-market 70% of days

The numbers

Annualised return9.92%
Sharpe ratio1
Worst drawdown-17.36%
Time in market69.99%
Sharpe vs benchmark0.06

Verdict

Barely moves the needle once tested fairly. Famous, not powerful.

What the test did and did not do

Almost nobody publishing a backtest says which of these they did. We list the ones we failed as well as the ones we passed.

Tested 2026-06-23. The same treatment, applied to every other system, is on the test bench.