Divergence Between the VIX and the Fear & Greed Index
u/MakingMoneyIsMe ·
Reddit — r/stocks
· July 07, 2026 at 15:06
· ⬆ 24 pts
· 💬 5 comments
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Good day All.
I’ve used the CNN Fear & Greed index for years to put me in the vicinity of market bottoms.
It worked during the COVID crash, the 2022 bear market, the tariff sell-offs, and are recent geopolitical scares.
Right now, there seems to be a disconnect that has me kinda puzzled:
\- **Fear & Greed Index:** "Fear" at around 40.
\- **VIX:** Hovering near its lows at 16.
Historically, these two move in tandem. This leaves me with two theories:
1. **The Fear & Greed index is broken:** It's being skewed by underlying technical noise or poor market breadth.
2. **The VIX is asleep at the wheel:** Market protection is dangerously cheap, and we are walking into a massive pullback.
Is the VIX just lagging, or are the other metrics within the Fear & Greed index painting a false picture?
What are you guy's thoughts?