By Marc Lichtenfeld For the first three weeks of 2020, all was well in the market. The S&P 500 rose from 3,230 on December 31 to 3,320 on January 21 – a rise of nearly 3%.
And then novel coronavirus became a thing. The market slid, and volatility spiked.
Volatility measures how much and how fast stock or market prices move.
If a stock (or the market) moves an average of 1% per day and tomorrow it drops 3%, you could say volatility increased. If it climbs 0.5%, you could claim volatility is low.
When market commentators talk about volatility, it is usually talked about in a …read more
