Vix: Subprime psychology of market volatility

Volatility is not something usually associated with bricks and mortar, observes Lex. But since late February when investors woke up to the problems in the US subprime mortgage market, Vix (a measure of implied stock market volatility) has risen from its eerily low levels of late last year. Having remained largely below 12 for that period, it bounced briefly to about 20 and is still above recent lows.

Part of that is heightened concerns about the risk of contagion. These surged again on Monday following a stark profit warning from American Home Mortgage Investment Corp.

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