Earlier this month, the CBOE Volatility index, known as the "fear gauge, " reached lows not seen since early 2007, before the financial crisis.

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The CBOE Market Volatility Index, the "fear gauge" known as the VIX, rose to a one-month high, in a reflection of the raised worries about the economy.

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While the inflation hedge argument is thrown around, gold appears to be resilient both to inflation and deflation, suggesting it is acting more as a fear gauge.

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The CBOE Market Volatility Index, the "fear gauge" known as the VIX, jumped as much as 13%, to a one-month high, in a reflection of the heightened worries about the economy.

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This is a fear gauge, and when it increases more than the federal funds rate at which American banks borrow each other's reserve balances from the Fed, it suggests an abnormal unwillingness of banks to lend to each other.

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As gold made new all-time highs week after week, experts pointed to its safe haven status, the fact the sovereign debt issues rattled Europe and the U.S., and the fact that gold had become the new fear gauge.

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The stock move was echoed by similar gyrations in other markets, where oil momentarily lost 0.7% before recovering, and the CBOE Market Volatility Index, the "fear gauge" known as the VIX, spiked 9% before falling back to its level just a few minutes earlier, down 5% on the day.

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Public opinion on the issue is hard to gauge: as in any market, fear is battling greed, and in this case gluttony.

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