Lol bro...
I can tell you have been in it for a while since you're still referring to Blackberry via it's old ticker symbol but are you seriously advocating calendar spreads on a derivative of the VIX to newbies? Anyways here is my $0.02:
- You are picking up pennies in front of a steamroller... aka a Taleb Distribution. Relative to the speed that the SVXY moves to the downside. Twice in 2017 it had +10% drops and 2017 was one of the most bullish trending years in the past decade. I'm not sure you are getting paid well for the risk that you are exposing yourself to.
- If/when the VIX even moves moderately, someone brand new is not going to know how what to do with a regular option, let alone a calendar spread.
definitely not for newbies...
you are correct, these strategies (which alot of people do using VIX, VXX) are high risk and high reward. Also high probability (>75%) due to the VIX future long term drift lower and timing markets when VIX may spike up.
If I'm in the trade an dthe VIX spikes up, I lose and lose big; but that's any play you make. If anything spikes the opposite way you lose big (in most cases, especially straight equity ownership or naked calls). Now you're also playing the theta burn or time decay. Keeping this 2-3 weeks on the long side protects a bit from massive spikes that don't have an opportunity to come settle.
This trade is all about management .