RE:HVU use Good question Shlinker:
Contango affects HVU price NOW, because HVU moves 4.16% of it's holdings into next month's futures every single trading day. So 4.16% of the fund, experiences a 11.27% loss every single trading day (net 0.47% of total HVU share price, contango constantly fluctuates).
Current contango can be found here:
https://vixcentral.com/
Current HVU commodity roll can be found here (click the HOLDINGS tab halfway down the page) Updated daily:
https://www.horizonsetfs.com/ETF/HVU
PS if contango persists and VIX reverses, it will dampen the amount that HVU moves upward relative to VIX. Be advised.