CONCLUDED Stock Market News From Nov. 20, 2025: Nasdaq Sinks 2.2% as Nvidia Bump Evaporates Last Updated: 4 hours ago The Stock Market's Fear Gauge Is Starting to Flash By Connor Smith The stock market's fear gauge spiked to its highest levels in a month. The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, surged as high as 28.27 on Thursday, which was its highest intraday level since Oct. 17. It later pulled back to 26.05. The VIX measures implied volatility in the month ahead in the S&P 500. A reading around 20 is conside ...

Market Performance - Wall Street closed higher with all three major stock indexes ending in positive territory, driven by optimism regarding potential tariff recalls and strong economic data [1] - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.5% or 225.76 points to close at 47,311.00, with 16 of the 30 components in positive territory [2] - The Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.7% or 151.16 points, closing at 23,499.78, largely due to the strong performance of AI infrastructure companies [2] - The S&P 500 gained 0.4% to finish at 6,796.29, with nine out of eleven sectors in positive territory, particularly the Consumer Discretionary and Materials sectors [3] Volatility and Trading Activity - The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased by 5.2% to 18.01, indicating reduced market fear [4] - A total of 19.17 billion shares were traded, which is lower than the 20-session average of 20.96 billion, suggesting a decrease in trading volume [4] - Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a ratio of 2.09-to-1, and on the Nasdaq, the ratio was 1.84-to-1, indicating overall positive market sentiment [4] Legal Context of Tariffs - The Supreme Court began hearing arguments regarding the legality of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, questioning the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) [5] - U.S. Solicitor General argued that the tariffs are incidental and not primarily revenue-raising, but justices expressed skepticism about the President's authority [6] - Chief Justice John Roberts highlighted that imposing taxes is traditionally a power of Congress, raising doubts about the tariffs' legal standing [7]

Investors are ramping up their bets on market turbulence, with positions tied to the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) hitting levels not seen in years. Specifically, net dealer long positions in VIX futures have surged to about 87,000 contracts, the highest in at least four years, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as cited by The Kobeissi Letter on September 30.VIX dealer positions. Source: CFTCThe sharp increase partly reflects a rush into exchange-traded products designed to profit f ...

Core Insights - The article emphasizes the importance of tail hedging in investment strategies, particularly in light of increasing market volatility and the inadequacy of traditional risk management tools during extreme market events [1][5][55] - It introduces the ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY) as a primary instrument for hedging against tail risks, alongside the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) for core equity exposure [2][5] - The analysis highlights the need for dynamic allocation strategies based on volatility signals derived from the VIX and VXV indices to optimize portfolio performance [6][8][55] Group 1: Tail Risk and Hedging Strategies - Tail risks have become a significant concern for investors, necessitating explicit protection strategies to maintain portfolio resilience [1] - Tail hedging strategies using VIXY are designed to provide structured defenses against severe market downturns, ensuring portfolios remain robust [1][5] - The article discusses the structural challenges of using VIXY, such as roll costs in contango environments, which can erode value over time [5] Group 2: Volatility Indices and Their Role - The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) serves as a key measure of expected equity market volatility, often referred to as the "fear gauge" [3] - The CBOE 3-Month Volatility Index (VXV) provides a longer-term perspective on market uncertainty, complementing the VIX in assessing market stress regimes [4] - The relationship between VIX and VXV is crucial for timing VIXY exposure, with an inversion indicating heightened short-term fear [7] Group 3: Portfolio Allocation and Performance Metrics - A dynamic allocation strategy is proposed, where up to 20% of the portfolio is allocated to VIXY based on volatility signals, with the remainder in SPY [8] - Performance metrics indicate that while the VIXY-hedged portfolio reduces absolute risk, it also results in lower returns and Sharpe ratios compared to a 100% SPY allocation [12] - The analysis suggests that careful strategy design is necessary to balance downside protection with overall portfolio efficiency [12][55] Group 4: Strategy Testing and Optimization - The article introduces two main strategies based on expected volatility risk premium (eVRP) and VIX levels, focusing on their performance under different market conditions [14][15] - Sensitivity analysis shows that shorter moving average windows (e.g., 10-day) provide more consistent and robust estimates for strategy performance [22] - The incorporation of dynamic sizing based on VIX levels significantly enhances performance metrics, demonstrating better risk-adjusted returns [39][55] Group 5: Composite Strategies and Real-World Application - The analysis explores combining multiple strategies to assess their effectiveness within a portfolio context, highlighting potential diversification benefits [40] - A composite strategy based on different moving averages of VIX shows marginal improvements in risk-adjusted performance compared to individual strategies [44] - The final results indicate that dynamically sized strategies outperform simpler benchmarks, emphasizing the value of a well-calibrated hedging mechanism [55][56]