Where the VIX volatility index stands versus its history
The VIX volatility index was 19.99 on Oct 16, 2026, its highest reading since Jul 29, 2026. Updated when Cboe Global Markets publishes a new reading.
Snapshot
The VIX volatility index was 19.99 on Oct 16, 2026, its highest reading since Jul 29, 2026. The highest reading in the data is 82.69 on Mar 16, 2020 and the lowest is 9.14 on Nov 3, 2017; the data starts on Jan 2, 1990.
- Independent Research
What We Know
- Latest reading: 19.99 on Oct 16, 2026.
- Previous reading: 16.46 on Oct 15, 2026, so the latest is up 3.53 points.
- One week earlier: 14.84 on Oct 9, 2026; up 5.15 points since.
- One year earlier: 25.31 on Oct 16, 2025; down 5.32 points since.
- 12 month high: 31.05 on Mar 27, 2026. 12 month low: 13.47 on Dec 24, 2025.
- 5 year high: 52.33 on Apr 8, 2025. 5 year low: 11.86 on May 21, 2024.
- Highest since: the latest reading is the highest since Jul 29, 2026, the last time the series was at or above this level.
- Lowest since: the latest reading is the lowest since Oct 15, 2026, the last time the series was at or below this level.
- Highest in data back to Jan 2, 1990: 82.69 on Mar 16, 2020. Lowest: 9.14 on Nov 3, 2017.
Octans View
At 19.99, the VIX volatility index sits 37% of the way from its 12 month low to its 12 month high. Over the past year it is down 5.32 points.
Bear Case · Room for Disagreement
Limits. This page shows daily readings, not intraday levels; a market can trade above or below them during a session. Cboe Global Markets data reach FRED with a lag of one business day, so the latest reading can trail the market. Records refer only to the history this source carries; older data from other sources may show higher or lower levels. Nothing here is a forecast.
Method and source. Octans Research computes every figure on this page from the full published history of Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) series VIXCLS. "Highest since" is the last earlier date when the series was at or above the latest reading. The page is regenerated by a fixed template when a new reading is published; no model wrote it.
Chart
Sources
- [1]Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) — VIX volatility index, full daily history (series VIXCLS)
These are the sources this piece was drafted from. How we verify. Found an error? Tell us and we correct it in public.
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