VIX: trade implied volatility
One of the most interesting ways to trade implied volatility (long)
is to buy forward starting out of the money calls on S&P500. At some
shops you can get decent pricing and better deal than the vol swap
market offers.
Since the option is forward starting it does not have any time decay
until the strike is set at a "strike date". At strike date the option
turns into a regular european call, which you can sell or dynamically
manage.
This strategy works like a call on volatility in the sense that vega
is convex. The skew and liquidity is a risk factor so I wouldn't got
that far out of the money.
Marketwatch quotes the VIX.