Daily Options Report

We go over a Year In VIX on the Options Zone

On March 5, 2009, as we neared the end of a simply awful stretch of market action, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) hit a low of 46.98 and a high of 51.95, before closing at 50.17.

Staring at a VIX of around 17 on the screen now, it may be hard to remember this, but 50 in the VIX was actually well off the highs. The VIX hit 80 in October 2008, and then again in November 2008.

That's not to say you ever had the chance to "sell" the VIX at those levels. As we note periodically, VIX futures merely represent the market opinion of where the VIX will settle at the specific expiration. And, at the time the VIX soared into the stratosphere, VIX futures traded at serious discounts to "cash," as much as 20 to 30 points below in fact.

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