Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Market conditions reflected an unusual mix of resilience and anxiety as 2020 came to a close. The equity market advanced in November and December despite worsening pandemic statistics, political tension over election results and partisan bickering over over the economic relief bill. Meanwhile, the Cboe® Volatility Index® (the VIX®)
remained solidly above its long-term average even as the market ascended to new
highs. At year-end, the VIX® futures curve reflected expectations of
the VIX® remaining in the mid-20’s well into 2021.
Read More ›
|
|
Thursday, January 7, 2021
The S&P 500®
Index returned 12.15% for the fourth quarter of 2020, resulting in a return of 18.40%
for the year. The fourth quarter was a mirror image of the third with a loss in
the first month rather than the final month as the S&P 500®
Index posted a loss of 2.66% for October followed by gains of 10.95% and 3.84% in
November and December, respectively.
Read More ›
|
|
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Implied volatility levels plummeted in November. With
election uncertainty in the rearview mirror and news of significant progress on
COVID-19 vaccines, the Cboe® Volatility Index (the VIX®)
declined from 38.02 on October 30 to 20.57 on November 30. The 45.90% drop is
the largest month-to-month decline in VIX® history.
Read More ›
|
|