The Lab
June 5, 2026

VIX Beta

How Hard the VIX Reacts When the Market Drops.

The VIX Beta Tracker measures how reactive the VIX is right now. VIX beta is how many points the VIX rises for every 1% the S&P 500 falls, a read on how twitchy fear is today. The tool ranks today's single-day reaction against its own 6-month norm and, on past days with a similar reading at a similar VIX level, shows how often the VIX went on to spike.

Most traders treat the VIX as a static number, but its sensitivity drifts. The same 1% drop can lift the VIX a little in a sleepy tape and a lot when the market is jumpy, and that reactivity is the tell. The decision-relevant question is not just whether the VIX is high, it is how hard it is reacting to moves right now, and what that level of reactivity has meant for a real spike.

A hot beta is not an automatic warning and a calm one is not safety: what follows depends on how far today's reaction sits above its 6-month norm, where the VIX itself is, and the window you care about. A twitchy VIX with the index already elevated is a different setup from the same reading in a calm regime. The tool conditions on both the reaction percentile and the VIX level and reports the forward spike odds from the matching history, so you read the reactivity in context rather than on its own.

What the Tool Shows You

A live VIX-beta reading, its rank against the 6-month norm, the forward VIX-spike odds from matching history, a VIX move-probability chart, a spike-risk banner, and a full log of past days reacting like today.

Signal

Today's VIX Beta

How many points the VIX rose for every 1% the S&P fell on the latest down day.

Headline

Forward Spike Odds

On past days with a reaction like today's at a similar VIX level, how often the VIX went on to spike.

Probability

VIX Move Probability

The chance the VIX rose at least 5, 10, 15, or 20 points within 5, 10, or 20 trading days.

Method

Reaction vs Its 6-Month Norm

Ranks today's single-day reaction against its own 6-month average, then matches on that and the VIX level.

Flag

Spike-Risk Banner

Turns red when history put the odds of a +20 VIX move within 20 days above 5%.

Log

Past Similar Setups

A full log of every past day with a VIX-beta reading like today's.

How Traders are using the VIX Beta Tracker

1

Read today's VIX beta

See how many points the VIX moved per 1% S&P drop, and where that reaction ranks against its 6-month norm.

2

Check the forward spike odds

See how often the VIX actually spiked after it was reacting this hard at this VIX level.

3

Size the move on the probability chart

Read the chance the VIX reaches plus 5, 10, 15, or 20 points within the window you care about.

4

Confirm with the event log

Open the log of past similar reactions. Check the sample size and whether the matches cluster in one regime before trusting the odds.

See how reactive the VIX is today

Open the VIX Beta Tracker

Get in Touch

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interested in learning more about our tools.