It's easy...
But, before we start, some context for just how different it is this time... if The Dow is able to hold this gain through the end of the quarter, it will be the largest quarterly comeback in the history of stocks...
Yesterday morning, after reading the latest Gartman letter, we reported that in what may have been the worst possible news for vol longs, Gartman said he had become a "buyer of the VIX." As a reminder this is what he said:
Submitted by David Stockman via Contra Corner blog,
Talk about sheep being led to the slaughter. The S&P 500 is up 11% from its February 11th intra-day low (1812) because Wall Street still has inventory to unload. That much is par for the course.
One would think that as we approach the most important event of the week, and perhaps the month, namely the latest FOMC announcement due in just over three hours and one which is expected to confirm that rate hikes are back on the table, something which a few months ago unleashed another round of teeth crushing volatility, that the VIX would be higher.
Not only is it not higher, but instead as the chart below shows, the VIX has just tumbled by 6%, to fresh 2016 low, and a level not seen since mid-December.
Keep calm... It's The Fed tomorrow, what could possibly go wrong...
Ahead of tomorrow's Fed statement and press conference, here is what has happened since they last "did" something...