(cash register dings)
- [Narrator] Here's the S&P
500 over the last year or so.
It looks pretty choppy, but
people who have been around it
for a long time know it can
get a lot choppier than this.
Here's the same index in 2008
during the financial crisis.
You can see, the swings
were a lot bigger back then.
Swings in stock prices
are known as volatility.
Before the market crashed in 2008,
casual observers of the market
weren't really paying attention to it,
but they do know, and that's
because of this, the VIX
or the Cboe Volatility Index.
The VIX shot up during
the financial crisis.
Since then, the VIX has been
known as a warning signal
for market distress, but how does it work?
(rhythmic mallet percussion
and orchestral music)
(pleasant mallet percussion music)
Like the name suggests, the
VIX looks at volatility.
Specifically, it takes
data about option trading
and uses it to forecast the likely size
of coming market swings.
When the VIX is high, it
means traders are expecting
a shaky market, and when it's low,
it means they're expecting
a relatively stable one.
Options grant investors the
right to buy or sell a stock
within a specific timeframe
at a stated price.
They come in two types, calls and puts.
Call options grant the
right to buy a stock
at a stated price within
the chosen timeframe.
Investors often buy them
when they are confident
that the stock will rise and
want to lock in a lower price.
Put options allow an
investor to sell shares
at a stated price within
the chosen timeframe.
Traders tend to buy them
when they think stocks
might decline and want to
lock in a selling price
ahead of that drop.
Here's an example.
Let's say an investor owns company shares
valued at $100 each.
If the investor thinks
the stock might go down
and wants to lock in earlier gains,
they could purchase a put
option that would give them
the right to sell the shares
for, say, $85 at a later date.
The investor and the
put seller make a deal.
The investor pays a small
premium to purchase the options.
If the stock price drops
below the strike price,
in this case $85, the put
seller must buy the stock
for $85 a share.
This helps limits the
shareholders' losses.
If the stock doesn't fall as low as $85
while the option is valid,
the put expires worthless
and the shareholder is out of the premium.
This means the put seller
made money on the deal.
So what does this have to do with the VIX?
The VIX is calculated based
on the price of options
on the S&P 500.
When traders worry the market will fall
or are betting it will
rise, they can buy put
or call options to protect
their assets or make money.
The increased demand drives
up the price of these options
which, in turn, drives up the VIX.
So here's the VIX now
and here it is in 2008.
Right before Lehman Brothers collapsed,
you can see, option prices were high.
Investors, betting that the
volatility would persist,
were buying more calls and
puts and driving up prices.
Now, people who watch the markets
keep their eye on the VIX,
and as the VIX becomes a more popular way
of gauging the stock market,
investors have started
betting on the VIX itself.
(pleasant mallet percussion music)
