CBOE Nasdaq Volatility Index - VXN

Volatility is a measure of how much something moves around. If your friend Greg is volatile, it means he's a moody guy. If you have a volatile chemical, it means it might explode. For the CBOE NASDAQ Volatility Index, it lets you know how much the NASDAQ 100 index is moving around. (The NASDAQ 100 tracks the major companies on the NASDAQ market.)

The index is distributed by CBOE Global Markets and calculated continuously during trading hours. The higher the level, the higher the volatility, meaning the more uncertain the market (the more prone it is to big swings). The figure is calculated using data from put and call options.

As an example of the kinds of numbers the index gets, the highest level (as of 2018) was 80.64, which occurred in November 2008...the height of the financial crisis. Stocks were bound for big swings with the market in turmoil. The lowest level was 10.31, hit in March of 2017.