Wall Street's fear gauge may be flashing a buy sign

From the source

There's nothing like a good selloff to turn a trader into an investor – so the saying goes. It's an adage that echoes the sentiment of an even older one: buy when there's blood in the streets. The maxims ring true after Thursday's selloff in stocks that sent the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) to its biggest one-day move since April 2025's "Liberation" week for tariffs , according to data from Bespoke Investment Group. In the 19 instances since 1990 in which the VIX rose at least five points from under 20 – it surged more than 11 points from 16.6 to 28.2 Thursday – the median return for the S&P 500 Index three months later was 4.2%, and 4.8% six months later, according to Bespoke analysis that also showed returns were positive 68% and 79% of the time over each period, respectively. "These types of sharp spikes from placid levels are like a line of thunderstorms coming through in summer," said Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke. "The sky quickly darkens and wind gusts, but the loudest…

BestAIBroker analysis

• Finance-aware sentiment: slightly positive (+0.10 on a -1 to +1 scale).
• Event classification: RUMOR.
• Market importance score: 31/100, weighting entity relevance, source credibility, multi-outlet coverage and recency.