Index
VIX
What is the VIX?
Cboe's Volatility Index — a thirty-day reading of expected S&P 500 swings, derived from options prices. It rises when traders pay up for protection, which is why the press calls it the fear gauge.
We never publish the index level; it is not our data. What you can trade is VIXY, the ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF; the chart below is VIXY via TradingView. VIXY holds short-term VIX futures — the tradable cousin of the index, not the index itself.
The line runs 20 USD on 5 August through 18.45 USD on 2 November, on a scale from 14 to 22. Days the market did not trade hold the previous close, flat.
What is Reddit saying about the VIX?
Reddit has said “vix” 8,707 times since December 2025, 2,838 of those in the last 90 days.
The count is the phrase itself, as the crowd wrote it — country names never resolve here.
Mostly discussed on r/wallstreetbets, r/options, r/stocks, r/investing and r/etfs.
Counts come from the tracked subreddits, as of 3 Nov 2026.
References
- Finazonprior-day close, indicative (IEX-derived, not the official close), some closes dollar-rounded at the source
- TradingViewthe price chart widget, drawn by TradingView from their own data
- RedditReddit ingest across the tracked finance subreddits