VIX term structure dashboard Excel searches almost always end the same way: a single VIX number, a stale 30-day chart, no front-to-back slope, no regime label, no roll-yield math. This guide ships a different answer. A premium June 2026 template that turns the volatility curve into a working dashboard. Five tenors on one chart. KPI tiles for the front, the back, the slope, and the regime. A seven-path scenario engine that maps how a short-vol and a long-vol sleeve perform across contango and backwardation. A twelve-ticker comparison matrix that shows how single-name implied volatility stacks up against the index. Every market data cell in the live version is a MarketXLS formula. Both the static sample (with formula comments) and the live-formula template are linked below.
The June 2026 backdrop is the reason this matters now. Headline VIX has been pinned in the mid-teens since the last FOMC pause, but the curve underneath has been doing more work. Quad witching just rolled off (third Friday of June). Realized volatility on the S&P 500 has compressed to single digits for stretches in May, yet the VIX1Y is still printing above 22. That is the shape of a market that is calm right now and not at all sure it will stay calm in the second half. Reading only the spot VIX number misses all of that. A term structure dashboard does not.
VIX Term Structure: A Five-Tenor Snapshot (Mid-June 2026)
The five tenors on the dashboard are the standard CBOE forward windows. They are not VIX futures. They are implied-volatility indices computed from the same SPX option chain at different days-to-expiration.
| Tenor | Days Forward | Mid-June 2026 Reading | Above / Below Spot VIX |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIX9D | 9 days | 14.82 | -1.12 (front below 30D) |
| VIX | 30 days | 15.94 | reference |
| VIX3M | 90 days | 18.41 | +2.47 (back above 30D) |
| VIX6M | 180 days | 20.27 | +4.33 |
| VIX1Y | 365 days | 22.06 | +6.12 |
Read the curve right to left. The 12-month VIX is well above the 30-day VIX. The 30-day VIX is well above the 9-day VIX. That is textbook contango: the further out you look, the higher the implied volatility. Traders are paying up for tail protection out at 12 months, while the next nine days look quiet. Roll yield for short-VIX products is positive here. Long-VIX products are bleeding.
What changes is the gap. A "normal" contango curve in calm markets has a front-to-back slope (VIX3M vs VIX9D) of roughly 8-14%. The mid-June 2026 reading is +24% (18.41 / 14.82 minus one). That is steep contango. Steep contango is consistent with end-of-cycle complacency: tail hedges are cheap relative to the spot VIX, and short-vol carry trades have been working for several months.
The dashboard does not stop at the snapshot. It classifies the curve into one of five regimes, runs the regime through a roll-yield model, and produces a P&L estimate for a generic short-vol and long-vol sleeve combination. The point is not to predict the next regime. The point is to make the current regime visible the moment you open the workbook.
Why the VIX Term Structure Matters Right Now
Three reasons the shape of the curve is more interesting than the spot VIX in mid-2026.
1. Persistent steep contango is unusual at these realized volatility levels. Trailing 30-day realized vol on the S&P 500 closed the prior week near 9%. Spot VIX at 15.94 implies an annualized vol premium of about 6.9 points (VIX minus 30-day realized). The 1-year VIX at 22.06 implies a 13.1-point premium. That is a wide forward premium for a market that has been moving in tight ranges, which suggests that options market makers are pricing in events the spot market has not started to discount yet (second-half earnings risk, election-cycle headlines, geopolitical surprises).
2. The 9-day VIX is the lowest tenor on the curve, which says traders see no near-term catalyst. When VIX9D inverts above VIX or VIX3M, you are looking at a known event window (CPI day, FOMC, NFP). When VIX9D is the lowest reading, the next week is a vacuum. That is a useful signal for calendar spread structures, which benefit from low front-month implied vol and higher back-month implied vol.
3. Short-VIX exposure has carried well for six months but is now near the end of that cycle. SVXY is up over 25% year-to-date in 2026. UVXY is down nearly 60%. Anyone running a short-vol carry trade is staring at a 1-year VIX at 22 and a 9-day VIX at 14.82 and asking whether the trade has been priced in. The dashboard's scenario sheet is designed exactly for that question.
What is Inside the Premium Template
This template ships ten sheets. Each is built for a specific job. Together they form a complete VIX term structure workspace.
- Cover - Branded title page, edition tag, table of contents, branded footer. The first thing the workbook opens to.
- How To Use - Step-by-step setup, an eight-step tutorial, and a full reference list of every MarketXLS function used in the workbook with one-line descriptions.
- Dashboard - The headline view. Six KPI tiles at the top (VIX, VIX9D, VIX3M, VIX1Y, 9D-3M slope, regime label). A five-point curve chart. A seventeen-year VIX year-end history table with a color-graded heatmap. A second chart shows the year-end values as columns.
- Inputs and Controls - Yellow-highlighted input cells. Scenario selector with a dropdown. Portfolio size. Short-vol sleeve weight. Long-vol tail sleeve weight. Equity index sleeve weight. Hedge trigger. Three custom tickers. Every downstream sheet flows from these cells.
- Scenario Analysis - Seven 10-week forward paths from "persistent steep contango" to "crisis backwardation". For each path the sheet shows the implied 9-week VIX level, the SPX realized volatility, the short-vol sleeve P&L, the long-vol tail sleeve P&L, the net portfolio P&L, and the regime label. Below the table is an eight-row by six-column sensitivity grid that stress-tests slope assumptions against realized vol assumptions.
- Strategy and Hedging - Ten regime-matched structures: short-VIX roll yield in steep contango, calendar spreads in normal contango, iron condors in flat regimes, long VIX calls in mild backwardation, cash plus long VIX calls in deep backwardation. Each row carries the entry tenor, strike convention, premium estimate, and break-even rule.
- Portfolio / Allocation - Four-sleeve allocation table with USD dollar size per sleeve and a donut chart. Below it sits an annual hedge cost ledger that estimates VIXY drift, VIX call spread roll cost, SPY put spread cost, and a recommended total hedge budget cap.
- Comparison Matrix - Twelve single-name and sector ETFs with 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year implied volatility plus 1-year IV rank. Color scales from green (low IV) to red (high IV). Data bars on the IV rank column. Three-arrow icons on the curve slope column.
- Vol Product Universe - Eight VIX-linked ETFs and ETNs (VIXY, VXX, UVXY, VIXM, VXZ, SVXY, SVOL, BTAL) with current price, year-to-date return, 1-month return, 30-day IV, and average volume.
- Methodology - The math, the regime thresholds, the assumptions in the roll-yield model, the data sources, and the limitations. One full sheet explaining how the model works.
- Glossary and Disclaimer - Seventeen term definitions and an educational-only disclaimer.
The two files included are the sample (every cell pre-filled with mid-June 2026 values, plus formula comments on each data cell) and the template (live MarketXLS formulas in every market-data cell).
Building the Dashboard With MarketXLS Formulas
Every market-data cell in the live template uses a verified MarketXLS function. The VIX series comes from the Economic Data endpoint and the QuoteMedia quote endpoint. Implied volatility comes from the Options endpoint. None of these formulas are scraped from a public website. All of them are licensed feeds.
The Five-Tenor Curve
=VIX() ' CBOE Volatility Index, 30-day SPX IV
=QM_Last("^VIX9D") ' 9-day forward S&P implied volatility
=QM_Last("^VIX3M") ' 3-month forward S&P implied volatility
=QM_Last("^VIX6M") ' 6-month forward S&P implied volatility
=QM_Last("^VIX1Y") ' 1-year forward S&P implied volatility
The 30-day reading also has a real-time equivalent that you can use if you want a quote that updates within the trading day rather than the end-of-day economic data feed.
=QM_Last("^VIX") ' Real-time 30-day VIX quote
The dashboard shows both. The economic data endpoint is shown on the cover and methodology sheets. The QuoteMedia quote endpoints feed the live KPI tiles.
The Front-to-Back Slope
=(QM_Last("^VIX3M")-QM_Last("^VIX9D"))/QM_Last("^VIX9D")
This single formula is the regime engine. The dashboard pipes the result into a lookup against the regime threshold table on the Methodology sheet, which returns one of five labels.
Single-Name Implied Volatility
The Comparison Matrix uses three implied-volatility tenors per ticker plus a 1-year IV rank.
=ImpliedVolatility30d("SPY") ' 30-day IV, annualized decimal (e.g. 0.142)
=ImpliedVolatility90d("SPY") ' 90-day IV
=ImpliedVolatility1y("SPY") ' 1-year IV
=ImpliedVolatilityRank1y("SPY") ' 0 to 100, current IV vs 1y range
If the 1-year IV is much higher than the 30-day IV, the single-name curve is in contango (calmer near-term, more volatile out at 12 months). If it inverts, that single name has a near-term catalyst priced in.
Historical Context
The dashboard pulls daily VIX history through the QuoteMedia history endpoint, which spills into a multi-row array.
=QM_GetHistory("^VIX") ' Daily OHLCV history
You can drop this on a separate worksheet and build a rolling 252-day percentile, a 30-day realized vol comparison, or a long-run moving average.
The Vol Product Universe
Each of the eight VIX-linked ETFs on the Vol Product Universe sheet uses the same four-line set.
=Name("VIXY") ' Fund name
=QM_Last("VIXY") ' Live last price
=ChangePercentYTD("VIXY") ' Year-to-date price change
=ImpliedVolatility30d("VIXY") ' 30-day IV on the ETF itself
ChangePercentYTD on a long-VIX ETF is one of the cleanest read-outs of the cost of carrying a tail hedge through a contango regime. Most years it is significantly negative. The 30-day IV is helpful for sizing option positions on the ETF itself.
Regime Classifier and Roll Yield Mechanics
The regime classifier on the Dashboard reads the front-to-back slope (VIX3M minus VIX9D, divided by VIX9D) and returns one of five labels. The thresholds are calibrated to the post-2010 sample.
| Slope (VIX3M - VIX9D) / VIX9D | Regime | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Below -10% | Deep Backwardation | Crisis / panic. Long-vol products gain, short-vol bleeds |
| -10% to -2% | Mild Backwardation | Stress is building. Hedges into rally |
| -2% to +2% | Flat | Inflection. Small positions only |
| +2% to +15% | Normal Contango | Short-vol roll yield works |
| Above +15% | Steep Contango | Complacency. Tail hedges are cheap |
The current mid-June 2026 reading sits firmly in steep contango. That is consistent with the historical record after FOMC pauses, when realized volatility settles below 12% for an extended stretch.
The Scenario sheet maps a seven-row matrix of what happens to a short-vol sleeve and a long-vol tail sleeve under different forward paths. The roll-yield model is simple by design.
Short-Vol P&L ≈ 0.12 * front_back_slope - 0.45 * max(0, (VIX_path - 18) / 18)
Long-Vol P&L ≈ -0.018 + 0.78 * max(0, (VIX_path - 18) / 18)
Net P&L ≈ 0.60 * Short-Vol P&L + 0.05 * Long-Vol P&L
The first equation says short-vol carries when the curve is in contango, but gets crushed when the VIX path overshoots 18. The second says long-vol bleeds a small baseline drag but gains sharply if the VIX path overshoots 18. The third combines them with the sleeve weights from the Inputs sheet. The numerical coefficients are heuristics, not a fitted regression. They are documented openly on the Methodology sheet so a user can swap them.
Comparison Matrix: Single-Name IV vs Index IV
The Comparison Matrix sheet lists twelve broad-market and sector ETFs side by side with their 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year IV plus 1-year IV rank.
| Ticker | Name | IV 30D | IV 90D | IV 1Y | IV Rank 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPY | SPDR S&P 500 | 14.2% | 17.1% | 19.8% | 18.4 |
| QQQ | Invesco QQQ Trust | 18.4% | 21.4% | 23.2% | 22.6 |
| IWM | iShares Russell 2000 | 21.8% | 24.6% | 26.8% | 28.4 |
| DIA | SPDR Dow Jones | 12.8% | 15.6% | 18.4% | 16.2 |
| EFA | iShares MSCI EAFE | 15.6% | 18.4% | 21.2% | 24.1 |
| EEM | iShares MSCI EM | 19.8% | 23.2% | 25.6% | 31.8 |
| XLE | Energy Select Sector | 24.6% | 26.8% | 28.2% | 42.4 |
| XLF | Financial Select | 16.2% | 18.4% | 20.2% | 19.6 |
| XLK | Technology Select | 19.2% | 21.8% | 23.8% | 26.2 |
| XLV | Health Care Select | 14.6% | 16.8% | 19.2% | 21.8 |
| GLD | SPDR Gold Shares | 15.8% | 17.2% | 18.4% | 36.2 |
| TLT | iShares 20+ Year Treasury | 17.6% | 19.8% | 21.4% | 38.4 |
Three observations from this snapshot:
SPY 30-day IV at 14.2% is lower than the spot VIX of 15.94. That is not unusual but it is informative. The VIX is a constant-maturity 30-day measure synthesized from out-of-the-money put and call prices. SPY 30-day IV is an at-the-money implied volatility measure. When ATM IV is below the VIX, the put skew is doing the work: out-of-the-money puts are pricing in tail risk that ATM strikes are not. The 1-year IV at 19.8% confirms the tail concern is more pronounced further out.
XLE has the highest IV across all three tenors and the highest IV rank. Energy options are the most expensive in this twelve-ticker set, which tracks with oil price volatility around Middle East tensions and OPEC+ negotiations. If you are running a short-premium strategy, XLE is where the math favours you most. If you are buying protection, it is the most expensive sleeve.
TLT IV rank at 38.4 is the second-highest in the group. Bond market volatility has not normalized the way equity vol has, because the policy-rate path is still genuinely uncertain. That is useful context for any cross-asset hedge that pairs equity exposure with bond duration.
Strategy and Hedging Sleeves
The Strategy sheet pairs ten regime-matched structures with entry rules. The point is not to recommend any one trade. It is to make the menu visible.
| Regime | Structure | Underlying | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steep Contango | Short-VIX Roll Yield | SVXY / SVOL | Sell when slope falls below +5% |
| Steep Contango | SPY Calendar Spread | SPY | Buy 60d, sell 30d, ATM |
| Normal Contango | Iron Condor (45-30d) | SPY | Delta 16 / Delta 8 wings |
| Normal Contango | Covered Call (ITM) | SPY | Delta 35 OTM call |
| Flat | Long Straddle | SPY | ATM, 30 days, catalyst-driven |
| Flat | VXX Calendar | VXX | Long back, short front |
| Mild Backwardation | Long VIX Calls (2M) | VIX | Delta 30 OTM |
| Mild Backwardation | SPY Put Spread | SPY | Delta 25 / Delta 10 |
| Deep Backwardation | Cash + Long VIX Calls | Cash + VIX | ATM, 30-60 days |
| Deep Backwardation | SPY Put Calendar | SPY | Buy 90d, sell 30d, Delta 25 OTM |
The structure column matches the regime. When the dashboard reports steep contango, the workbook tilts toward short-vol carry and calendar spreads. When the dashboard reports backwardation, the workbook tilts toward long vol and put spreads. The hedge cost ledger on the Portfolio sheet caps the total hedge budget so the carry trade does not silently bleed into the tail hedge.
Hedge Cost Ledger
The Portfolio sheet estimates the annual cost of a tail-hedge program at four sleeve sizes for a 100,000 USD account.
| Hedge Component | Annual Cost % | USD Cost | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIXY / VXX Drift | 4.2% | $4,200 | Continuous | Long-vol products bleed in contango |
| VIX Call Spread Roll | 0.6% | $600 | Quarterly | Buy OTM, sell further OTM |
| SPY Put Spread Hedge | 0.25% | $250 | Quarterly | Buy 25 delta, sell 10 delta |
| Total Hedge Budget Cap | 5.0% | $5,000 | Annual cap | Suggested ceiling |
The point of the ledger is to make explicit what is usually implicit. A 5% annual hedge budget is roughly half the average annual equity return. That is real money. The dashboard makes the trade-off visible: the workbook is not trying to hide the cost of insurance.
Download the Templates
Both files are free. The sample is the right way to read the design. The template is the right way to run a live workbook.
Download the templates:
- - Pre-filled with mid-June 2026 values; each data cell has a comment showing the underlying MarketXLS formula
- - Live-updating formulas; refreshes the VIX curve, single-name IV, and ETF prices the moment you click Refresh All
Both files share the same eleven-sheet layout, the same color palette (MarketXLS blue and deep navy with a red-amber-green heatmap), the same conditional formatting, the same charts, and the same KPI tiles. Frozen panes are set on every sheet, gridlines are hidden on the Cover and Dashboard, and tab colors are assigned per sheet for fast navigation.
How to Use the Dashboard Day to Day
A short routine for working with the live template.
Morning: read the curve. Open the Dashboard. The six KPI tiles tell you where the curve is. The regime label tells you what bucket you are in. The five-point curve chart tells you the shape. If the regime has changed from yesterday, the Strategy sheet is where to look next.
Pre-FOMC or pre-CPI: check the front month. When a known event window is approaching, VIX9D often inverts above the 30-day VIX. The dashboard shows that the moment it happens. Calendar spread structures that work well in normal contango stop working when the front is inverted.
Mid-month: stress-test allocation. The Inputs sheet drives the Scenario and Portfolio sheets. Change the short-vol sleeve weight from 30% to 20%, change the long-vol tail sleeve weight from 5% to 8%, and watch the net P&L across the seven scenarios update. The dashboard makes the trade-off between carry and protection visible.
Quarterly: roll the hedge ledger. The Portfolio sheet ledger estimates the annual hedge budget. Every quarter is a good moment to check whether the assumed VIX call spread cost matched the actual realized cost. Adjust the model coefficients on the Methodology sheet if necessary.
A Short Tour of the Dashboard Sheet
The Dashboard sheet is built to be readable at a glance and printable on one landscape page. The print area is preset to B1 through M50.
Row 1 banner. Title, date stamp, MarketXLS attribution. Hidden gridlines.
Rows 4-6 KPI tiles. Six tiles across the top. VIX, VIX9D, VIX3M, VIX1Y, 9D-3M slope, regime label. Each tile has a label row, a big-number row, and a delta row.
Rows 9-18 term structure curve. Headers and five tenor rows with conditional formatting (color scale on the slope column, data bars on the value column). Embedded line chart of the curve on the right side.
Rows 21-41 historical context. Year-end VIX from 2010 through 2026, with a regime label per year and a 3-color scale on the close column. Embedded column chart on the right.
Row 45 footer. MarketXLS attribution and book-a-demo link.
The whole sheet has frozen panes at A8, so you can scroll the historical context while keeping the KPI tiles visible.
FAQ
What is the VIX term structure?
The VIX term structure is the curve of implied volatility on S&P 500 options at multiple forward windows. The dashboard uses five tenors: VIX9D (9 days), VIX (30 days), VIX3M (90 days), VIX6M (180 days), and VIX1Y (365 days). Plotted in order, the curve usually slopes up (contango) in calm markets and inverts (backwardation) in stressed markets.
What is the difference between VIX and VIX9D?
Both are forward-looking implied-volatility indices on SPX options. The VIX is the 30-day measure. VIX9D is the 9-day measure. VIX9D is more reactive to known event windows like FOMC days, CPI prints, and earnings spillover. When VIX9D is below the 30-day VIX, the next nine days have no scheduled catalyst. When VIX9D is above the 30-day VIX, a near-term event is priced in.
Is steep contango bullish or bearish for stocks?
Steep contango itself is not directional. It tells you that traders are pricing in higher volatility further out, which often coincides with complacency right now. Short-vol carry strategies tend to work in steep contango regimes, and tail hedges are relatively inexpensive. The dashboard surfaces the regime so the strategy choice matches the curve, not so it predicts price direction.
How often should I refresh the workbook?
The live template refreshes the moment you click Data > Refresh All in Excel. For day-to-day monitoring, once or twice a day during US market hours is typical. The VIX series updates intraday through QM_Last and end-of-day through the economic data endpoint. If you only care about the daily close, refreshing once after 4:15 PM ET is enough.
Does the template tell me when to buy or sell?
No. The template is an educational tool to make the curve, the regime, and the trade-off between carry and protection visible. The Strategy sheet lists ten regime-matched structures with their typical entry rules, but the workbook does not recommend any specific trade. Every position carries risk of loss and should be reviewed with a qualified professional.
What is the difference between VIX futures and the VIX9D, VIX3M, VIX6M, VIX1Y indices?
VIX futures are tradable derivatives on the spot VIX. VIX9D, VIX3M, VIX6M, and VIX1Y are constant-maturity implied volatility indices computed directly from SPX option prices at the corresponding forward windows. The shapes are similar but the indices are not investable. Most VIX-linked ETFs and ETNs hold VIX futures rather than the index series.
Can I use this template for single names?
Yes. The Comparison Matrix sheet does exactly that for twelve broad-market and sector ETFs. To extend to a single name like AAPL or NVDA, replace the ticker in any row of the Comparison Matrix with the symbol you want, and the formulas update. The single-name implied volatility tenors (30-day, 90-day, 1-year) and the 1-year IV rank are pulled via the MarketXLS Options endpoints.
What happens if the QM functions stop returning data?
The QuoteMedia session occasionally needs reauthentication. If a row of the dashboard returns an error, the fix is to reauthenticate the QuoteMedia session through the MarketXLS Admin panel. The MarketXLS support team can help with that if needed.
The Bottom Line
The VIX is one number. The VIX term structure is a curve, and the curve carries more information than the spot reading. June 2026 is a useful case in point: spot VIX in the mid-teens looks calm, but the 1-year VIX above 22 says the options market is hedging six to twelve months out, and the steep front-to-back slope says short-vol carry has been working but cannot work forever. A dashboard that puts all of that on one screen, classifies the regime, and runs a roll-yield scenario engine is a meaningfully different tool than a single VIX quote.
The premium template above ships exactly that. Eleven sheets. Six KPI tiles. Seven scenarios. Twelve comparison tickers. Eight vol products. Conditional formatting, embedded charts, dropdowns, frozen panes, hidden gridlines, branded cover page. Free to download. Both the static sample and the live-formula template are linked in the Download section.
Want to see the live workbook in action with your own portfolio inputs? Visit marketxls.com to explore the full MarketXLS function library, or book a demo to walk through the VIX term structure dashboard with someone from the team.
