Terrible earnings and then passing an awful spending bill with a revised GDP is enough to give us two bad cases – as in recession and never ending rate hikes.

VIX went into full Zone 4 mode (above 25) by midday Thursday, only to stop on a dime and come back.

20-day VIX chart with one-minute candles and real-time IV on the bottom

What does it mean when VIX cannot hold a bid?

It Means …

Generally, the selloff is over.

VIX or the implied volatility of the SPX, could not keep a rosy bid into the close.

As a matter of fact, it tanked.

Traders are looking at less range for today and not more, so my experience tells me SPX should rally or at least have less of a down move.

If VIX retreats totally from Thursday’s move, maybe we are back to 3850 for Christmas.

Santa will only get a mini rally back to even for the week.

To Your Trading Success,

AG