It took 44 trading days but the S&P 500 finally had its first all or nothing day of the year on Tuesday.  We consider all or nothing days in the market to be days where the net daily advance/decline reading in the S&P 500 exceeds plus or minus 400.  After a record number of all or nothing days last year (70), this year the volatility switch went off on January 1st as the S&P 500 went more than two months without an all or nothing day.  That finally changed this past Tuesday, when the S&P 500's daily A/D reading came in at -460 as the index itself dropped 1.5%.
Based on the first 46 trading days so far this year, the S&P 500 is on pace for five all or nothing days in 2012, which would be the lowest number of occurrences since 2002. Â Before we all go celebrating the death of volatility, however, we would note that the first two months of 2012 have not been too dissimilar from the first two months of 2011, when there were only two all or nothing days. Â Just a reminder that the volatility switch often turns on even more abruptly than it turns off.
