Chart of the Day - Friday, August 18, 2023

Today’s Chart of the Day was shared by Nautilus Research (@NautiliusCap). The Volatility Index ($VIX) broke below 15 earlier this Summer, setting a new post-pandemic low. It even got as low as 12.90 in late June. However, it spiked to a two-month high of 17.90 yesterday as the pullback in the S&P 500 intensified. That's still relatively low for the $VIX, considering it spent most of last year above 17. Nautilus points out that bouts of Volatility tend to be short-lived when they begin from such low levels. The table shows how the $VIX has historically performed after spiking from under 15 to above 17.50. Out of the 28 prior occurrences since 1990, the $VIX was down one week later 79% of the time by an average of -2.15%. Three weeks later, it was down 95% of the time, by an average of -3.71%.