Historical Chart of the VIX

The VIX tracks relative volatility on the S&P 500 stock index.  The image below is a historical chart of the VIX as of October 9, 2008, and dating back to before the October 1987 market crash...

Click on the image to see a larger image.

This image is current as of October 9, 2008.  You can see the S&P 500 superimposed in light gray behind the daker VIX chart.  The S&P 500 has sold off faster in 2008 than it did during the recent bear market and the VIX has reached levels not seen since 1987.

We are unlikely to see a VIX spike like we did in 1987 for a number of reasons.  If you remove the October 1987 spike from the analysis, the current VIX levels are unprecedented as is the speed at which this market has continued to sell-off.

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