There are many remarkable things about this market that keeps hitting new highs, but what is the most surprising is the lack of volatility.
To see how slow the market has become in graphic form, take a look at the iPath 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) . It has fallen from around $470 since January 2016 to $33.82 as I write and is still trending down.
In my trading career, I do not recall anything as odd as record-low levels of volatility at the same time the indices consistently hit new highs. It is illogical that new highs fail to generate greater emotion, but day after day the market goes totally dead intraday. We are setting records for lack of excitement when just the opposite should be occurring.
So far today, the S&P 500 is trading in a three-point range, yet many stocks and indices are hitting all-time highs. The action in many individual stocks is quite good, but you have to wonder how the computer algorithms are creating and profiting from this odd action. There is something that drives this action that has tremendous power and is not easily identified.
This action makes me think about how, at various tops in the past, it was deemed a new era. The algos that are driving this are often proclaimed to be a major, fundamental change in the market that will continue to drive us higher. I suspect at some point this "new era" will come to an end like all the previous ones, but who knows when that will occur.
I am working hard to keep pace with the action and have added a few positions today such as Extreme Networks (EXTR) and Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) . Other names like Ichor (ICHR) and Abeona Therapeutics (ABEO) are acting well, but they are not easy chases at this juncture.
It continues to be great market action, but the lack of volatility and excitement is hard to understand.
