The closing bell has brought 2012 to end and for the S&P 500, it ended on a positive note.?
The market rallied on Monday as Wall Street tried to wrap its arms around details for a budget deal that includes extending tax cuts for all taxpayers.?
At an afternoon press conference President Barack Obama?said an accord to dodge the fiscal cliff was near but not quite done yet. The clock is ticking with seven-plus hours remaining until the fiscal cliff is a reality.?
The Dow closed up 166 points (1.28%) to 13,104; the S&P ended up 24 points (1.68%) and the Nasdaq rose 60 points (2.02%).
For the year, the Dow was up 6.9%; the S&P 500 rose 13% and the Nasdaq jumped almost 16%.
Not a bad year.
But for the VIX, it dropped 20.69% to 18.02 on Monday thanks to fiscal cliff worries.?
No need to worry, a slide like this usually comes once a year, said Miller Tabak’s Andrew Wilkinson.?
He wrote in a research note last Wednesday via MarketWatch,??The last such steep decline (-27%) occurred August 2011, shortly after the S&P downgrade of US government debt. The 2010 move occurred in May when the Vix slumped by 30% in a single session.??
When the markets open on Wednesday, here at The Options Insider we’ll look forward to December and year-end options volume numbers.?
After seeing declines during the year, on Dec. 20 OCC volume surpassed the 3.899 billion contract level of 2010. This makes 2012’s volume the second best year for options trading over its 39-year history in listed options.
Congratulations and Happy New Year!