Daily Investment Interpretations

September 8, 2008

2008-9-8:   The price of oil was basically unchanged today at $106.34 even though Hurricane Ike may hit Gulf Coast  installations. The Nasdaq rose 13.88 to 2,269.76; the Dow leaped 290.43 to 11,510.74; and the S&P jumped 25.48 points to 1,267.76. The VIX fell 0.4 points to 22.64. The yeast that provided this leavening was the takeover by the government of Fannie May and Freddie Mac. I suspect that this glee will be short-lived, but here's a chart that plots the VIX on top and the S&P 500 on the bottom. Notice how the upward spikes in the VIX match the downward spikes in the S&P 500. The S&P 500 is trending downward but the bear-market rallies begin when the VIX spikes upward.
    Here's a new article by Todd Harrison (whose article provides the link to the table below)