This week was an emotional rollercoaster for investors. The volatility was probably embraced by traders, but I’m sure it wasn’t easy for them either. I can say for a fact that although I made out ok, there were times where if I didn’t act quickly, I would have been in trouble.

If you really want to get short XLB, and don’t want to pay through the nose (either in terms of theta or vega), a simple put diagonal spread will act a lot kinder to you. For example, you could...