Expansions of volatility after blowoff moves are generally a death knell in and of themselves. Expansions of volatility after blowoff moves, accompanied by historically high levels of optimism only serve to further sink in the dagger. But when you get an expansion of volatility, accompanied by historically high levels of optimism, while vacillating around a technical point of relevance going back to some of the most important highs and lows of the past two decades......then you have a real issue.
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With that said, this remains one of the worst spots to be long equities of this entire bull run starting in 2009. Downside is at a minimum to 2,200 on the S&P at some point in 2018, for a roughly 23% decline from the top tick in January.
