We Can’t Blame Stock Market Volatility on COVID-19 Anymore

We Can’t Blame Stock Market Volatility on COVID-19 Anymore

The market cares less about COVID-19 than you think. The recent volatility in global financial markets may seem like the latest pandemic-induced shocks, but there are signs that investors are growing accustomed to the idea that some form of the virus is part of our new norm.



The market has moved on to other, more pressing concerns, say many investment professionals. At the beginning of the pandemic, investors fixated on the virus’ every move. They poured over data on company lockdowns and vaccine advancements to assess how well individual companies were strategically positioned to profit. The resulting calculations sorted the business world into neat categories of winners–like Peloton–and losers–such as cruise ship operators. But over the past 22 months, the market’s herd mentality has evolved into a herd immunity of sorts. As a result, Wall Street’s worldview is now what finance strategists call an “endemic”—rather than “pandemic”—mindset.











Proof of this shift lies in the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s volatility index, known as the VIX, a wonkish metric that professionals use to gauge stability 30 days into the future. The VIX tracks the S&P 500’s basket of stocks and measures trends in options