Call it $1 billion Monday… AOL sold patents to Microsoft (MSFT) for $1 billion this morning; Facebook is paying $1 billion for Instagram in cash and stock; and AT&T (T) will sell most of its stake in Yellow Book for nearly $1 billion.
With today’s decline in equity markets, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) hit its highest point in over a month – ending the day 12% higher at 18.81. Despite a mid-day rally on low volume, equity markets closed down by at least 1%, with the S&P futures dropping to support in the mid-1370s. Gold gained 0.7%, natural gas rose 1%, and oil dropped 1%. In the treasury markets, bonds on the long-end were relatively unchanged.
What’s in store for tomorrow? At this point, hard to think anything different than more of the same. Low volume, tight trading ranges, boring markets. We dare markets to prove us wrong.