What happening
The VIX — also known as the “fear index” — recently dipped below 15 for the first time since 2007, barely half of where it was in March of last year and well beneath its historical average of about 21. Officially known as the Chicago Board of Options Exchange Volatility Index, the VIX gauges investor sentiment by measuring expectations of near-term stock-market volatility. The higher the index, generally speaking, the greater the skittishness in the market. With the sovereign-debt situation in Europe seemingly stabilizing and a slew of positive economic statistics in the U.S., the low VIX number indicates that investor worry about a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis has waned.