Perhaps Too Quiet: Traders Fear Calm as Volatility Bets Jump
- Shares outstanding on TVIX note climbed to record last week
- VIX below 20 for 10 days, longest such streak since December
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Even as a gauge of investor anxiety hovers close to the lowest level of 2016, the calm washing over the U.S. stock market has a suspicious feel to some traders.
The concern is visible in the record number of shares outstanding in an exchange-traded note betting on an increase in the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index. Share counts, which rise along with demand for ETFs, sit around the highest levels of the year for two other long-VIX securities, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Meanwhile, the fear gauge has closed below 20 for 10 straight days, the longest such streak since December.