The VIX, Wall Street's fear gauge, jumped as much as 5.7 points to above 28 about 90 minutes after Thursday's open, its highest reading since March 31, as the S&P 500 fell 3% and was headed for its worst decline since April 2025. Traders' rule of thumb equates 16 VIX points with a 1% index move, so the article argues volatility should be even higher. Noel Smith described the selloff as a liquidation linked to a hedge fund rather than macro factors like oil or rates, and said it could create a dip-buying opportunity. The article notes that on Wednesday the VIX fell more than 4 points while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF dropped 3%, a first in market history. By midday, nearly 800,000 VIX calls had traded, 3.5 times the 30-day average.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Keywords
S&P 500Wall StreetVIXoptionshedge funds
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related tickers and likely impact
QQQ
▼ Likely negativeInvesco QQQ Trust
Relevance: high
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | ETF |
| Close on 11/04/2026 | 691.95 |
| Change that session | +0.97% |
SPY
▼ Likely negativeSPDR S&P 500 ETF
Relevance: high
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | ETF |
| Close on 11/04/2026 | 766.73 |
| Change that session | +1.64% |
BTC/USDT
▼ Likely negativeBitcoin
Relevance: low
| Market | Crypto |
|---|---|
| Exchange | Binance |
| Sector | Layer 1 |
| Market cap | $1.6T |
| Close on 11/04/2026 | 80,504.01 |
| Change that session | +3.94% |
XAU/USD
▲ Likely positiveRelevance: low
| Market | Gold |
|---|---|
| Close on 11/04/2026 | 4,060.57 |
| Change that session | +3.32% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
Related news
- Wall Street freaked out Friday. VIX and bitcoin say the fear may fade Monday.
The VIX jumped 21.5% to 19.99 on Friday as the S&P 500 fell 1.09% amid worries over AI stocks and geopolitical tensions, its biggest one-day rise since June 5. In 32 earlier Friday spikes of 20% or more since January 1990, the VIX fell the following Monday 25 times and rose only seven times. Bitcoin stayed above $80,000 over the weekend, and its volatility index BVIV was just under 40%, showing no sign of market stress. However, the article notes nothing guarantees a calm Monday: the VIX kept climbing sharply on Monday in seven of those 32 cases, and it remains under 20 today.
- Wall Street's Fear Index is doing something strange. Here's what it means for stocks
Stocks wrapped their worst week since June, with the S&P 500 down nearly 2% on Friday, yet the VIX closed at 19.4 after touching its highest intraday level since April. SpotGamma's Brent Kochuba called the 2.2-point VIX move relatively muted, estimating it should have risen closer to 2.6 points based on 126 selloffs since 2018. Nomura's Charlie McElligott noted that out-of-the-money S&P 500 puts are not being chased, while Nasdaq 100 puts 20% to 50% out-of-the-money grew pricier in volatility terms after the Oct. 16 selloff. One explanation is that asset managers are selling stocks rather than hedging with options, and Morgan Stanley data shows global gross equity exposure of long-short managers fell 8% from its peak, the biggest drawdown in at least ten years. Convexitas CIO Zed Francis called it a massive de-levering event and said it is the main reason implied volatility has stayed quiet.
- VOL REPORT : Post - Midterms Volatility in Focus
Markets are expected to be only muted by the U.S. midterm elections, as the broad expectation is a divided government, with Democrats winning the House and possibly the Senate while a Republican holds the White House, making major new laws or tax overhauls unlikely for 2027 and 2028. Cboe data show forward volatility is expected to rise slightly more than 1% on Wednesday, November 4, versus a historical average closer to 4%, and the next-day increase after presidential elections averages about 7%. State Street notes that the year after a midterm election has historically delivered strong returns, with the S&P 500 not declining in the 12 months following a midterm since 1930. The VIX briefly topped 30 in March and April but has mostly stayed between 15 and 20, though it has risen this week on renewed concern about the AI trade.
- Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are dominating the AI stock boom. Here's their edge
Fueled by the global AI stock boom, looser capital rules and greater lending to hedge funds, major Wall Street banks have already had a banner year in equities trading. The five largest investment banks generated about $67 billion in equities revenue through Sept. 30, $7 billion more than all of 2025. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley account for a combined $52 billion, nearly 80% of the total, with prime brokerage, which includes margin loans and securities lending to hedge funds, a key growth driver. At Goldman Sachs, equities financing rose 96% in the third quarter to a record $3.37 billion. Asia, especially South Korea and Taiwan, was the fastest-growing frontier for equities.
- What’s Driving Strong Q3 Momentum for Meta Platforms (META)
Renaissance Investment Management's Large Cap Growth Strategy highlighted Meta Platforms (META) as a strong performer in the third quarter of 2026, a period in which the S&P 500 rose 2.3%. According to the letter, Meta launched its Muse consumer AI agent in September, with an app that offers integrated feeds and can act on the user's behalf, and early App Store results suggest Meta is becoming an early leader in monetizing its AI investments. As of October 26, 2026, META closed at $630.56, a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, down 4.47% year to date, with a 52-week range of $520.26 to $779.82. At the end of the second quarter, 254 hedge fund portfolios held META, compared with 262 in the prior quarter, and it ranked fifth on a list of 40 most popular hedge fund stocks heading into 2026.
- Hedge Funds Are Shorting Stocks at Near-Record Levels
Goldman Sachs prime brokerage data shows hedge funds have built short positions in stocks to a near five-year high, while global fundamental long-short funds lost 2.9% through October 15 and suffered losses every trading day in that stretch. On October 22, the S&P 500 fell 1.21% to 7,663.43 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.6%, even though most stocks rose as the selloff stayed concentrated in megacap tech. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost over 6%, Meta fell 6.98% after its third-quarter report, and the 10-year Treasury yield dropped 19.3 basis points to 4.953%. Fundstrat's Tom Lee said the selloff is nearly over, while the article notes that a yield rebound, weak megacap results or a hawkish Fed would prove the shorts right. It also warns that rising prices could force short sellers to buy back shares in a short squeeze.
Related markets
Latest news
- 2 Growth Stocks to Buy in November Without Any Hesitation
Eli Lilly's third-quarter revenue rose 39% year over year to $24.4 billion, and the article expects its GLP-1 products such as Zepbound, Foundayo and Mounjaro to keep driving growth, with retatrutide and other pipeline drugs potentially expanding the market. Intuitive Surgical's shares fell sharply after its third-quarter update on weaker-than-expected procedure guidance, even though revenue rose 22% to $3.05 billion and da Vinci procedures grew 14%. The article notes margin pressure from the rollout of the da Vinci 5 and rising competition from Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson. According to some estimates, fewer than 8% of eligible soft tissue procedures are performed robotically, and management expects regulatory clearance for telesurgery in the first half of 2028.
- The Stocks Making Noise-And the Ones That Actually Matter
NVIDIA, Amazon and Palantir are posting strong growth despite a volatile October, but the article says each needs specific developments before 2027 for their bold price targets to hold. NVIDIA's fiscal Q2 revenue rose 105.8% to $96.22 billion, and the CFO expects about 70% revenue growth in fiscal 2028, though that forecast assumes no China data center compute revenue. AWS grew 39.3% with a $578 billion backlog, but Amazon's Q3 EPS of $1.89 missed estimates, and its case depends on AWS growth and $220 billion in capex. Palantir's revenue grew 92.8% last quarter, but a $300 share price would imply 127x 2027 EPS estimates, so its case depends on more earnings beats. The article concludes that NVIDIA's valuation math looks the most comfortable of the three.
- Why Dutch Bros Stock Crashed Today
Dutch Bros shares fell about 20% by 11:45 a.m. ET Thursday, even though the coffee chain beat third-quarter estimates with $0.25 per share on $549.8 million in sales, versus expectations of $0.24 and $548.6 million. Revenue grew 30% year over year, same-store sales at company-operated stores rose 5.4%, and total company profit rose 36% to $37.2 million, with plans for 250 new store openings in 2027. The article notes that GAAP earnings of $0.20 per share were lower than the $0.25 non-GAAP figure, and that investors appear to have been more upset by annual sales guidance of at least $2.1 billion, slightly below the $2.13 billion Wall Street estimate. The article says the stock trades at 60 times earnings, while noting the guidance still leaves room for the company to meet or beat the analyst forecast.
- Sick of Swings? Same… But History Is on Our Side
The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 4% on Thursday as AI-linked stocks, especially chipmakers and data center names, slid for a second day. Qualcomm dropped 11.37% after smartphone chip sales came in below expectations, Arm Holdings fell 12.04% despite record revenue, and Micron Technology lost 13.25%. Even so, the Dow jumped 3% on Wednesday, its biggest gain the day after a midterm election since 1982, according to CFRA Research. The article argues that short-term drops feel worse than they are, and that owning many stocks and holding them for years can help investors ride out volatility. It also cites The Motley Fool's research that U.S. stocks have returned about 11% a year since 1874, including dividends.
- Wall Street's Fear Gauge Just Made a Massive Move
The VIX fell 20.26% to 16.61 on Wednesday, its biggest one-day percentage decline since April 2025, after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, removing a major near-term political uncertainty. The S&P 500 rose 1.6%, the Nasdaq gained 1.4% and the Dow surged roughly 3%, as investors bet that divided government could reduce abrupt policy shifts from Washington. Lower oil prices, tied to expectations that the result could pressure President Donald Trump to de-escalate the Iran conflict, pushed Treasury yields down. The article says volatility has not disappeared but shifted from election uncertainty to policy risks such as AI regulation, debt-ceiling fights and shutdown threats. Large hyperscalers including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta gained, while data-center operators and semiconductor stocks fell on concerns that new infrastructure could face tighter regulation.
- Big Tech's massive AI spending is causing another problem for investors
Combined share buybacks by Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle (ORCL) fell to just $4.4 billion in Q3, the lowest since Q3 2017 according to the Kobeissi Letter, and the third straight quarter below $5 billion. That is down 90% from the $45.9 billion peak in Q4 2021. Cash once used for buybacks is being redirected into AI projects, with the five companies' combined capital expenditures tracking toward approximately $800 billion in 2026. Wall Street analysts project that spending will surge past $1.2 trillion in 2027.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.