The VIX Explained
The VIX is the most widely cited number in options and the most widely misunderstood, mostly because people treat it as a forecast rather than what it actually is — a price.
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vix
Every StaxInvesting article tagged vix · 4 posts.
4 articles
The VIX Regime Flip: What Changes for Same-Day Options
Yesterday the argument was that a calm VIX hid the real risk in dispersion and intraday moves. Today the VIX woke up — jumping about 8% to ~18 as the SOX fell into a bear market. When 30-day implied volatility rises mid-selloff, the same-day options environment flips regimes: premium gets richer, the term structure can invert, and moves start to trend instead of mean-revert. Here's what changes, and why the strategies that worked in the cheap-vol regime are the ones that break in this one.
Building a Pre-Market Volatility Read: VIX + Dispersion
Checking the VIX before the open is one data point, not a dashboard. Here's how to combine VIX term structure with sector dispersion into a repeatable pre-market volatility read, and why a calm VIX over wide dispersion is the signature of a gap-risk, stock-picker's tape.
The Low-VIX-During-a-War Paradox: Calm Index, Wild Tape
The US is in its fifth month of conflict with Iran, semis are selling off for a second day, and the VIX is loitering near 16.5. Here's why 30-day index implied vol can read as calm while single names whip by double digits intraday, and what that paradox means for anyone trading same-day options.