A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Lucas Jackson | Reuters
After a quiet summer, volatility is back as oil prices fall and investors weigh the prospect of an interest rate hike in the near term.
Consider Friday's sell-off, which was followed by a large rebound Monday, and a drastic drop Tuesday. Over the past week, the CBOE Volatility Index, a gauge of investors' fear, is now up nearly 50 percent.
So how should you play this trend, if history is any guide?
With data from Kensho, a quantitative tool used by hedge funds to analyze historical trends, CNBC PRO searched for the best trades when the VIX spikes.
