From your experience, would you say the VIX futures are useful for anything other than traders taking chunks off the bid or ask moving the equities a few seconds later?
Oh certainly yes it is, but that's just not my use-case(anymore). In the past(when I had longer-lasting positions), the VIX was a useful indicator of "is this move real, or not?". Typically, if all 3 of the major equities(NQ,ES,YM) move in tandem over a 5-30s period, and the VIX inversely matches their movement - then that was my entry signal. When the VIX doesn't match, prices tended to return to their starting point moments later. If you speculate as to "why did the prices snap back?", my best guess was it was the result of profit taking or bad positions puking.
My current use of the VIX is more short-term. Over time, I found ultra-short-term positions worked out the best for me(in terms of profitability, stress, and opportunities per day - stress was #1).
