The Market Has Not Been This "Nervous" Since 2008

If there is one thing traders have learned from the past decade, it is that the VIX, or "fear" index as it is still incorrectly called in various financial outlets, has become especially meaningless when measuring market nervousness whether because it is manipulated outright ( here, hereand here), due to anticipation of central bank intervention following every market crashdrop keeping a lid on volatility, or simply because we live in a world in which even the algos have realized the tail wags the dog ( with lots of leverage) and instead of buying risk assets, they are selling volatility futures instead.