This is an explainer. Loomi has not published a backtest of VIX Gate, so this article describes what the gate does and shows published VIX rules from another Loomi product as a worked example.
What the VIX measures
Cboe's methodology states it directly. The VIX "is designed to measure the market's expectation of 30-day forward looking volatility of the U.S. equity market, as conveyed by S&P 500 Index option prices" (>Cboe). The inputs are the market prices of SPX and SPXW options plus U.S. Treasury rates.
Three things follow from that definition:
- It looks forward. The VIX is priced from options, so it reflects what traders expect and are paying to protect against.
- It covers the S&P 500. A single stock can be calm while the VIX is high, or the reverse.
- It is a 30-day view. It describes expected volatility over the coming month.
What a volatility regime looks like
April 2025 is a clean example of a regime change. Cboe's monthly review reported that one-month realized volatility rose to nearly 43%, "the highest level since 2020." On April 4, SPX options set a single-day record of 6.04 million contracts (>Cboe).
When the market shifts like that, a trader who keeps the same size faces three added risks:
- Stops sized for calm markets get hit by normal noise.
- Gaps skip past stops entirely.
- A string of losses arrives faster than the account can absorb.
A regime filter answers one question before any setup: how much risk does this market allow today?
How VIX Gate works
Here is what Loomi.Ai has published about VIX Gate, from the >Loomi.Ai pricing page:
- Its job. It is labelled a "Size guide" with the line "How much to trade, before you trade."
- What it shows. "The live VIX band, the regime it puts the desk in, and the position size that band allows."
- Three bands. CALM, ELEVATED and HIGH FEAR.
- Where it sits. "Every strategy below is sized through this gate first."
- In automation. Alerts routed to your broker are "Sized through VIX Gate. Off with one switch."
The order matters. The gate sits in front of the strategies. A breakout or mean-reversion signal still has to pass through the band's size limit before it becomes an order.
What is and isn't published
We want to be precise about the evidence.
| Item | Published? |
|---|---|
| The three band names | Yes: CALM, ELEVATED, HIGH FEAR |
| That every strategy is sized through the gate | Yes |
| The exact VIX level where each band starts | No |
| The size each band allows | No |
| A backtest of VIX Gate on its own | No |
So we will not quote a return, a win rate or a drawdown for VIX Gate. None has been published. If you want to see VIX-based rules written out in full with a tested record, Loomi's Vol Harvest strategy is the clearest example.
A worked example: Vol Harvest's VIX ladder
Vol Harvest is a separate Python strategy sold on its >own page. It is a different product from VIX Gate, and the site does not say they share rules. We include it because its VIX rules are published line by line. The page describes "six fear-gauge rules, four big stocks, and gold," checked each afternoon, where "the first one that's true decides."
| Rung | Rule (as published) | Stocks | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Panic buy | VIX in the top fifth of its last 100 days and the S&P has dropped more than 3% in five days | 85% | 15% |
| 2. Complacency | VIX under 13 while the S&P runs 5% above its 50-day average | 40% | 40% |
| 3. Fear fading | VIX over 20 but already falling below its 20-day average | 70% | 30% |
| 4. Fear spike (veto) | VIX more than 20% above its 20-day average. Sell the stocks, hold gold | 0% | 50% |
| 5. Uptrend (default) | S&P 500 above its 200-day average | 70% | 30% |
| 6. Downtrend | S&P 500 below its 200-day average | 30% | 50% |
Where stocks and gold add up to less than 100%, the rest sits in cash.
To see what the ladder does to exposure, apply it to a $10,000 account:
- Uptrend (rung 5): $7,000 in stocks, $3,000 in gold.
- Fear spike (rung 4): $0 in stocks, $5,000 in gold, $5,000 in cash.
- Panic buy (rung 1): $8,500 in stocks, $1,500 in gold.
Two ideas stand out. The VIX can cut exposure to zero when fear is rising fast. It can also raise exposure when fear is already extreme and prices have fallen hard. As of September 18, 2026, the page showed rung 5, the uptrend default, with the VIX at 14.81.
Vol Harvest's page reports an 8-year study (May 2018 to May 2026) with a 26.9% CAGR, a 1.27 Sharpe ratio and a −20.7% maximum drawdown when trading at the 3:45 PM closing auction. The same table shows how much timing matters. Trading at the next morning's open with 0.1% slippage cut the CAGR to 21.2% and deepened the drawdown to −29.5%. These are hypothetical Python backtests. Vol Harvest has no certificate page, and those figures say nothing about VIX Gate.
How to use it on the Loomi.Ai Desk
VIX Gate is one of four Loomi.Ai algorithms, alongside Loomi Box, The Affair and Ascent. The site says the algorithms "live on the Desk today," and you can own any one of them as a Python script for $149 one time, or get all of them in The One for $699 one time.
A practical routine:
- Read the band first. Before looking at setups, note whether the desk is in CALM, ELEVATED or HIGH FEAR.
- Let the band set the size. Take the position size the gate allows, even when a setup looks strong.
- Pair it with dealer gamma. The >GEX Regime page adds a second read on the day. In Loomi's QQQ study, negative gamma days saw next-day moves around 1.0%, against about 0.6% when gamma was above +$2bn.
- Keep the switch in reach. If you automate, the routed alerts are sized through VIX Gate and can be turned off with one switch.
The Desk itself, with options flow, GEX and the strategies, is $8/mo intro, then $20/mo.
Put the research to work on your Desk
Explore the tools behind the research, compare the available access, or open your Desk if you already have an account.
FAQ
What is a high VIX level? There is no official cutoff. Cboe described the VIX near 30 in early April 2025 as "already elevated." Vol Harvest's published rules treat under 13 as complacency and over 20 as a fear line.
What does the VIX actually measure? The market's expectation of 30-day volatility in the S&P 500, calculated from SPX option prices.
Has VIX Gate been backtested? Loomi.Ai has not published a standalone VIX Gate backtest, band thresholds or size settings. This article describes only what the product pages state.
How do I get VIX Gate? You can own VIX Gate as a Python script for $149 one time, get all the algorithms in The One for $699 one time, or add Loomi Full Auto for $79 per month and let the bots run it.
Loomi.Ai provides educational market research, not financial advice. Backtests are hypothetical and do not guarantee future results.
Sources
- >Volatility Index Methodology: Cboe Volatility Index, Cboe Global Indices
- >Index Insights: April, Cboe
- >Loomi.Ai pricing, Loomi.Ai
- >Vol Harvest: VIX Volatility Hedge, Loomi.Ai
- >GEX Regime, Loomi.Ai