Market Mood

The seven measures

Each score says how the day’s reading ranks against the past year: 70 means higher than 70% of those days. Where a high reading means fear, like the VIX, the score is flipped, so every bar reads the same way.

1. Is the market going up?

   4

   Extreme fearHigher than 4% of days in the past year

   How far the S&P 500 sits above or below its 125-day average.

   A market well above its average of the last six months has been rising steadily, which investors read as a reason to buy. One sitting below it has been sold.

2. Are stocks hitting highs or lows?

   12

   Extreme fearHigher than 12% of days in the past year

   S&P 500 stocks at a 52-week high, less those at a 52-week low, as a share of the index.

   When many stocks reach new 52-week highs, buying is spread wide. When more are at new lows, selling is.

3. Is the buying broad?

   10

   Extreme fearHigher than 10% of days in the past year

   Trading volume in rising S&P 500 stocks against falling ones, added up over time (a McClellan summation).

   Rising prices on rising volume across many stocks show conviction. A rally carried by a few names, or volume piling into falling stocks, shows the opposite.

4. Are traders buying protection?

   4

   Extreme fearHigher than 4% of days in the past year

   The VIX against the 3-month VIX, averaged over 5 days. When near-term fear is priced above longer-term fear, traders are paying up for protection.

   The VIX prices fear over the next month and the 3-month VIX over the next three. Near-term fear priced above longer-term fear means traders are paying up to protect themselves now.

5. How jumpy is the market?

   1

   Extreme fearHigher than 1% of days in the past year

   The VIX against its 50-day average.

   The VIX rises when investors expect big swings, which usually comes with falling prices. Measured against its own recent average, a jump stands out.

6. Are people running to safety?

   0

   Extreme fearHigher than 0% of days in the past year

   Stocks' 20-day return less intermediate Treasury bonds' 20-day return.

   When stocks beat Treasury bonds, investors are choosing risk. When bonds win, money is running to safety.

7. Will investors take risky debt?

   4

   Extreme fearHigher than 4% of days in the past year

   High-yield corporate bonds' 20-day return less Treasury bonds' of a similar length.

   High-yield bonds are lent to riskier companies. Investors buy them over Treasuries when they feel confident, and sell them first when they don't.

Market Mood over time

The S&P 500 or the Nasdaq 100 on top, Market Mood underneath, one reading per trading day at the close. Move along either chart to read any day.

The two move together partly by design: one of the seven measures is the S&P 500 against its own 125-day average. The chart shows how mood and market moved together. It does not show that the mood predicts the market. Index moves are measured on the funds that track them.

How to read it

• Extreme fear0–24Investors are selling, buying protection and running to safety more than on almost any day of the past year.
• Fear25–44More caution than usual: prices under pressure, more protection bought, money moving toward safer assets.
• Neutral45–55Neither fear nor greed stands out. Most measures sit near the middle of their past year.
• Greed56–75More appetite for risk than usual: prices rising, plenty of stocks at new highs, little demand for protection.
• Extreme greed76–100Investors are taking more risk than on almost any day of the past year.

How it is worked out

1. Seven readings, after the close

   Each weekday evening WiseView reads seven figures from the day’s closing prices: the S&P 500 against its 125-day average, new highs against new lows, the volume behind rising and falling stocks, the VIX against the 3-month VIX and against its own 50-day average, stocks against Treasury bonds, and high-yield bonds against Treasuries.

2. Each ranked against its own past year

   A figure is compared with the same figure on each of the previous 252 trading days. Higher than 70% of them scores 70. Figures where high means fear are flipped, so 0 is always fear and 100 always greed.

3. Averaged, with equal weight

   Market Mood is the plain average of the seven scores. A day counts when at least five measures have a score; a measure with no price that day shows a dash.

Market Mood is WiseView’s own measure. Other fear and greed indexes, CNN’s among them, use their own recipes, so the numbers will not match.

Use it in WiseView

• On the desk

  Type MOOD in the terminal to open the Market Mood panel beside your charts. How the panel works

• In your own AI

  Ask Claude or ChatGPT for today’s market mood through WiseView MCP. Connect your AI

• In your own code

  Read the reading and its history from the member API. The endpoint

Questions

What is Market Mood?

Market Mood is WiseView's fear and greed index for the US stock market. It is one number from 0 to 100: low readings mean investors are fearful, high readings mean they are greedy. It averages seven measures of how investors are behaving.

How is it calculated?

Each of the seven measures is ranked against its own past year of trading days. A measure that is higher than 70% of those days scores 70; measures where a high reading means fear, like the VIX, are flipped. Market Mood is the plain average of the seven scores.

When is it updated?

After every weekday close, from that day's closing prices. The page says which close the reading is for.

Is it the same as CNN's Fear & Greed Index?

No. CNN's index asks similar questions, but it is CNN's own and is worked out differently. Market Mood is WiseView's measure, built from prices WiseView stores, so the two numbers will not match.

Is it a signal to buy or sell?

No. It describes how investors are behaving as of the last close, not where prices go next. It can stay at either end for weeks, and nothing on this page is investment advice.

Can I use it in my own tools?

Yes. WiseView members can open it in the terminal (type MOOD), ask their own AI app for it through WiseView MCP, and read it from the member API.