Analysis
How the index works
Five market signals, weighted into one score from 0 to 100.
About this page
Every input comes from public market data on Yahoo Finance. The index has no dependency on CNN, alternative.me or any other sentiment provider.
The formula, live
Today’s value for each signal, and how much it counts.
Five zones
Where a score falls on the scale.
- Extreme fear0–20
- Fear21–40
- Neutral41–60
- Greed61–80
- Extreme greed81–100
The rules
- 5 to 95The range each signal can score, from extreme fear to extreme greed.
- 2 to 98The index is the weighted average of the five, held inside this range.
- 15 minutesHow long a live score is cached on the server. Pages refresh it on load.
- Every weekdayThe closing score is recorded after the US close. Market holidays are skipped.
Data sources
Six symbols from Yahoo Finance’s public chart data.
Limitations
This is a simplified five-signal model. It does not capture credit spreads directly, market breadth (advancers against decliners), IPO activity, or options skew beyond the put/call reading.
The put/call signal uses VIX term structure (VIX against VIX3M) when the CBOE put/call ratio (^CPC) is unavailable on Yahoo Finance.
Daily scores from October 2016 onward use the same five-signal method. The handful of earlier 2016 points are estimates. Data may be delayed up to 15 minutes during market hours. This is not financial advice.
- ^VIX
- CBOE Volatility Index
- SPY
- S&P 500 ETF
- ^VIX3M
- Three-month VIX
- HYG
- High-yield (junk) bonds
- LQD
- Investment-grade bonds
- TLT
- Long-term Treasuries