Free Republic

As Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’ nears all-time lows, one commonly used measure shows Asian equities near their least volatile this century. The calm that has descended on U.S. financial markets is stretching around the world. Based on one commonly used measure, Asian equities are near their least volatile this century—a byproduct of improving corporate earnings, stabilizing economic growth and the diminishing impact of geopolitical events on markets. In the U.S., Wall Street’s “fear gauge” is near all-time lows, and in Europe, volatility has also largely subsided.

Volatile markets may tempt hedge-fund fraud * Reuters, Thursday November 20 2008 By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - While fraud can happen any time, the loosely regulated $1.7 trillion hedge-fund industry looks especially vulnerable following record losses. Losses of roughly 15 percent this year and a growing sense of panic as hedge-fund clients exit worldwide are creating ripe conditions for a small number of the estimated 9,000 hedge-fund managers to break the law, according to forensic accountants, private investigators and former prosecutors. "In volatile markets there is a greater likelihood that a manager might want to try and...

Extremely low volatility in the US stock markets is suggesting that the current rally is in its topping phase.  We examine some SPX volatility trends.The longer that I study the financial markets, the more convinced I become that volatility is one of the most important factors for investors and speculators to carefully consider before executing trades.   While there are countless trading indicators out there with varying degrees of effectiveness, volatility constantly seems to rise near the top of the heap.  Volatility is simple and effective, and remarkably consistent throughout the vast majority of financial-market history.   I suspect...