Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market may have lost some of its post-election energy, yet there doesn't appear to be a lot of concern about any kind of material setback in the near term. That perspective is grounded in a CBOE Volatility Index that is tracking lower, implying there is not a lot of interest at this point in using options to hedge against downside risk.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which closed at 20.49 on Election Day, is under 13.00 today (12.91, -0.63, -4.7%). That is the lowest level since mid-July, which came just before a near 10% pullback in the S&P 500 from its July 16 high to its August 5 low. Over the same period, the CBOE Volatility Index went from 13.12 to 65.73.

Separately, the Vanguard Mega-Cap Growth ETF (MGK) is up 0.5% while the market cap-weighted S&P 500 is up just 0.2%.

Market breadth at the NYSE has turned negative, which goes to show how mega-caps are again carrying the market today. For the week, the Vanguard Mega-Cap Growth ETF is up 3.6% versus a 0.9% gain for the market cap-weighted S&P 500 and a 1.1% decline for the equal-weighted S&P 500.