In a Volatile 1st Quarter, CME Group Might Be the Big Winner

The first quarter of the year was a real roller coaster ride in the U.S. equity markets.  A big run-up in January was followed by an even bigger slide in February.  After peaking at 2782 on January, the S&P 500 index plunged to 2581 on February 8th.  Unfortunately, the nauseating ride wasn’t over and we saw several more large daily moves throughout February and March that helped move the CBOE volatility index (VIX - the market’s “fear gauge”) to a peak of 37 – a multi-year high.