The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX) closed at its lowest level recently as steady gains in U.S. stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs)seemed to put investor’s minds at ease. Reuters reports VIX is Wall Street’s fear gauge, as it tracks projected market volatitliy embedded in the S&P 500 option prices. Thus VIX moves in the opposite direction of the benchmark – it moves up when investors believe risk levels are high. So as the benchmarks have been hitting new highs recently, the VIX is hitting lows (see the chart below).
Some of the more popular ETFs are:
For full disclosure, some of Tom Lydon’s clients own DIA.
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