The Cboe Volatility Index, better known as the VIX or the market’s fear gauge, was rising early Tuesday. It’s still well below levels normally associated with market turbulence.
The VIX measures how big the price swings are from shares, but it tends to register more when stocks are falling. At the minute, the S&P 500 is within a whisker of a new record high.
It was reading 15.53 before the market opened, up from 14.77 at Friday’s close. Anything below 20 is considered relatively calm. The last time there was a big jump was in mid-December. Before that, the index got close to 40 in August.
