Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Market shocks come in all sizes and flavors. Sometimes they are a bolt out of the blue with no immediate identifiable trigger, like the flash crash of May 2010 or the event in February 2018 that came to be known as ‘Volmageddon’. Other times the drivers of market volatility are more discernable. As the S&P 500® Index declined 12.70% from its all-time high on February 19 through month-end, and the Cboe® Volatility Index (the VIX®) increased from 14.38 to 40.11, the spreading COVID-19 illness was clearly a catalyst for the spike in volatility.
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Thursday, March 5, 2020
The S&P 500® Index declined 8.23% in February, inciting an intense spike in market volatility. The S&P 500® Index started February on a positive note, climbing 5.12% from the start of the month through February 19. As concerns surrounding the spread of the COVID-19 illness and its potential economic impacts reached a feverish level, the S&P 500® Index rapidly entered correction territory, defined as a decline of 10% or more, with a 12.70% decline from February 19 through month-end. The sharp drop brought the S&P 500® Index’s year-to-date return to -8.27%.
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Friday, February 28, 2020
Presidential election years typically involve uncertainty, but should investors expect more or less than average equity market volatility in election years? While there is a strong connection between uncertainty and market volatility, an analysis of election year volatility reveals the historical pattern is counterintuitive.
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