We live in historic times. Not only are global equity markets making new highs on what seems like a weekly basis, volatility as measured by options implied volatility indices such as the VIX continues to exist in a protracted low volatility environment:

VIX (Daily)

The VIX has never gone an entire quarter without a daily close above the 13.00 level. As it stands now the VIX will make history in Q1 2017 by not having a single daily close in 'teenager' territory (above 13.00). 

This is especially noteworthy because a 'cheap' VIX means that portfolio managers are able to hedge long equity positions at a much lower cost than they would normally pay for downside put protection (the implied volatility component of put option pricing is currently about 30% cheaper than the historic average). 

We are also seeing this new low volatility regime leak over into other asset classes such as gold. The Gold Volatility Index (GVZ) is also currently experiencing a record low volatility streak:

GVZ (Daily)

It's interesting that both the GVZ and VIX are at virtually identical levels with both measures of 30-day options implied volatility pricing in a roughly 3.2% up or down move over the next 30 days in either gold or the S&P 500. If we convert current levels of implied volatility into levels and ranges it means the market is pricing in a 2305-2457 30-day range for the S&P 500 and a $1187-$1265 30-day range for gold (based on March 16, 2017 closing prices). 

From my vantage point implied volatility in both gold and the S&P looks cheap and I will be hunting for options trades over the next few days in order to profit from an unexpected surge in volatility (both realized and implied). 

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