Chart of the Day - Monday, March 22nd, 2021

Today’s Chart of the Day was shared last week on Twitter by Katie Stockton (@StocktonKatie). It's a chart of the Volatility Index ($VIX) over the past two years. The VIX is a teenager again! It closed at a fresh 52-week low today, below that key 20 level. The VIX spent 245 days above 20 before finally closing below it last month. Since then, we've seen several whipsaws above and below 20, but overall, the VIX continues to fall into a more 'normal' range. As Katie points out, VIX under 20 is evidence that we could be transitioning back into a low volatility regime. These volatility regimes can persist for a while. Take a look at years like 2013, 2017, and 2019. The VIX was in a low volatility regime (barely closed above 20) while the S&P 500 steadily marched higher.