(Bloomberg) -- Fear is back.
The burgeoning bludgeoning of large-cap U.S. technology stocks Monday -- largely driven by the Facebook data-misuse controversy -- has traders acutely anxious about the near-term outlook for the S&P 500 Index.
The VIX futures curve, whose contracts track the implied volatility of the benchmark U.S. stock index over time, is in backwardation. That is, March's contract is more expensive than the second-month contract, and so on out to September.
Generally, the VIX futures curve tends to slope upward -- called contango -- a tacit acknowledgment that the outlook for U.S. equities is generally more uncertain over long rather than short time periods. Backwardation in the curve is a telltale signal that the stock market is under stress.
During the market mayhem in early February, the spread between the front- and third-month contract blew out to its lowest level since 2009.
VIX Is in Backwardation! Here's Why and What It Means: QuickTake
To contact the reporter on this story: Luke Kawa in New York at lkawa@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Andrew Dunn, Joanna Ossinger
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