Got $VIX? Risk Happens Slowly, Then All At Once

08/26/15 01:31PM EDT

For much of the past 3.5 years, the VIX has been range-bound between 10-20, with occasional blips to 25 on front-month contracts.

Got $VIX? Risk Happens Slowly, Then All At Once - z volatility

And then it happens...

Crash!

Boom!

Bang!

Yesterday’s close of 36.02 confirms a bullish phase transition for U.S. equity volatility that is unlikely to go away anytime soon. It's rocketed +213% higher in just one month. The move was eerily reminiscent of the 8/8/11 rip in the VIX that preceded several months of 30+ VIX closes.

With the Fed gearing up to make a policy mistake in the coming months, could we be looking at a similar setup?

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