VIDEO: Hedging a Portfolio During a Sell-Off: Using Diagonals, VIX & VIX Futures

GYP Office Hours Recap: How to actually hedge a sell-off (Diagonals, VIX & VIX futures)

This session landed right as the market pulled back and volatility expanded — exactly when hedging stops being theoretical. Tony Battista and Tony Rihan walked members through how to protect a premium-selling portfolio during a sell-off without bleeding returns in calm markets — using long call diagonals, VIX, and VIX futures to add the one thing most income portfolios are missing: long vega.

Here’s a taste of what we covered:

• Why every premium-selling portfolio is secretly short vega — and takes a “double hit” (delta, vega, and gamma) when markets fall

• The diagonal-spread hedge Battista favors — and his one hard rule on implied volatility that decides whether he’ll even put it on

• Why VIX is “probably the purest hedge available for a declining market” — and why VIX calls are so expensive

• How to use VIX futures to offset a short-put book — and the sizing mistake that turns a safe hedge into a dangerous one

The full recap and the complete session recording are below for members. If you’re on the free list, this is exactly the kind of working session — real structures, real rules, real risk management — that paid members get every week.

👉 Subscribe to unlock the full recap + the recording

Join Grow Your Pile at growyourpile.com for the complete Office Hours library, the live sessions, all three model portfolios, the Put Selector & Black Swan Hedge tools, and every trade alert.

🔒 Members-Only Below — Full Recap + Session Recording