Understanding "VIX" The Fear Index

VIX ‘anxiety’ levels:

5-10 = extremely low anxiety = extreme complacency

10-15 = very low anxiety = high complacency

15-20 = low anxiety = moderate complacency

20-25 = moderate anxiety = low complacency

25-30 = moderately high anxiety

30-35 = high anxiety

35-40 = very high anxiety

40-45 = extremely high anxiety

45-50 = near panic

50-55 = moderate panic

55-60 = panic

60-65 = intense panic

65+ = extreme panic

You can feel fairly comfortable if VIX is moving in a range between 18 and 27.
As we have noticed lately, VIX has been in a range of 30 to 48 since the second week of August.

According to the table this represents high anxiety to near panic.

Where do we go from here?

That is a very good question as the charts seem to be giving us two divergent answers.

Old school point and figure charts are suggesting a near term target of 28 (moderately high anxiety), while other interpretations indicate higher levels than what we have recently experienced.

Needless to say, if the point and figure charts are correct, we are in for a significant rally, while if the other charts are correct, we could see the S&P drop to the 1010 to 1040 range.

 I am leaning toward the rally based on my interpretation of the charts, but this could be a contrary indicator. :)

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