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SentimentUpdated daily after close · as of 2026-09-18

Fear & Greed Index: Market Sentiment, Rebuilt in the Open

Fear — the Fear & Greed Index reads 31/100 from 7 live sentiment families. The transparent basket covers market momentum, net new-high strength, up-volume breadth, put/call positioning, VIX, credit appetite and stocks versus Treasuries. Every input is scored against exactly 252 trailing sessions, every component links to its source tool, and the same method replays the 2012+ history. After Fear readings, SPY historically returned +3.47% · 78% win over the next 63 sessions versus +3.27% · 77% win on all days; that is context. A trigger would need a stronger edge than that.

What drives today's read

Strongest component

Volatility at 63/100 — VIX -8.4% vs its 50-day average.

Weakest component

Volume breadth at 1/100 — 44% of volume flowed into advancers (10d).

Component agreement

5 of 7 components lean the same way; 2 already read extreme fear.

Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-09-18 · Open ↓
Source
All seven components computed from our own data: the ~5,500-symbol daily price database (TradeStation) for momentum, breadth, highs/lows, HYG/LQD and stocks-vs-bonds; Cboe for the VIX; the official CBOE daily stats page for the put/call ratio (2025+).
Methodology
v2 (2026-08-16): each component is an exact trailing-252-session mid-rank percentile (0 = max fear, 100 = max greed); net new highs are normalized by universe size and put/call expires after seven stale calendar days. The index equally averages available components—six through 2026-01-05, seven after the CBOE feed accumulated a full lookback. Zones at 25/45/55/75; forward returns use overlapping 21/63-session windows.
Updates
Recomputed after every US trading close as part of the daily pipeline.Last: 2026-09-18
Maintained & reviewed by Yuriy Matso — methodology shown on the page.
Fear & Greed index2026-09-18 · close
Fear

fear for 2 sessions · 5/7 components lean fear · 1w -11 · 1m -29

extreme fearfearneutralgreedextreme greed25455575
01

The seven components, scored

The composite hides its own disagreements — this breakdown doesn't. Each input is scored 0–100 against its trailing year. Agreement tells you whether the headline is broad; the highest- and lowest-scoring inputs identify what is pulling the dial.

Agreement
5/7 fear
2 extreme
Highest score
63
Volatility
Lowest score
1
Volume breadth
02

The index since 2012

Fifteen years of the dial, with SPY above it and the zones shaded behind the line. Fear spikes are sharp and cluster inside selloffs; greed tends to plateau. The faint daily trace shows the latest move, while the 21-session average separates a new extreme from an entrenched one.

Daily
31
Fear
21-session avg
43
Fear
Daily vs trend
-13
fresh fear move
Range:
EXTREME FEARFEARNEUTRALGREEDEXTREME GREED02545557510020122014201620182020202220242026SPY (top pane, log)76231
Daily reading21-session average
Fear & Greed Index (2012-06-28 → 2026-09-18): daily readings (faint) with the 21-session average, zone bands at 25/45/55/75, and SPY in the top pane. Equal-weight average of exact trailing-252-session mid-rank component scores; six components through January 5, 2026, seven after the put/call feed accumulated a full scoring window.
03

What happened next — SPY after each zone

The test other dials don't publish, rerun under the audited v2 method. The pattern shows a clear contrarian gradient: the fearful zones preceded the best average outcomes, while Extreme Greed preceded the weakest — Extreme Fear produced roughly 1.7× baseline three-month returns. Neutral and Greed are effectively tied, so this is not a perfectly monotonic staircase. It is a base rate over overlapping windows, mostly earned inside crashes that eventually turned; it is context, not a trigger.

What today's zone has meant historically

Fear has historically improved the forward-return base rate

After Fear readings, average SPY returns were positive at both measured horizons. The honest contrarian read is stronger-than-normal expected upside—not a standalone entry signal. These are overlapping historical observations, not independent trades.

Next 21 sessions
+1.25% · 69% win
+0.13pp vs baseline
Next 63 sessions
+3.47% · 78% win
+0.20pp vs baseline
ZoneDaysShareNext 21 sessionsNext 63 sessions
Extreme Fear53915%+2.06% · 70% win+5.64% · 81% win
FearToday84324%+1.25% · 69% win+3.47% · 78% win
Neutral58216%+0.93% · 65% win+2.67% · 75% win
Greed1,21934%+0.88% · 69% win+2.67% · 76% win
Extreme Greed39311%+0.55% · 65% win+2.33% · 74% win
All days (baseline)3,576100%+1.12% · 68% win+3.27% · 77% win

Average SPY price return and share of positive outcomes from every day in each zone, 2012+. Adjacent days overlap almost entirely, so effective sample sizes are far smaller than the day counts. Dividends excluded.

04

What this gauge cannot tell you

Three limits, stated plainly. It is not CNN's number: same concept, different data and scaling — ours reads against our own universe with published methodology, and the two will disagree by a few points routinely. The put/call raw feed starts in 2025: its score joins only after accumulating a full 252-session window in January 2026; earlier history averages six components. The zone study is dominated by the six-component era. It is a mood ring. The outcome table is an honest base rate and does not amount to a strategy. For positioning gauges with edge tests of their own, see the Put/Call Ratio, Commitment of Traders and the Tape Tracker.

How Fear & Greed Index Works

  1. 1
    Measure seven sentiment components
    Market momentum (SPY vs its 125-day average), stock price strength (net 52-week highs minus lows as a share of our common-stock universe), volume breadth (the 10-day share of volume flowing into advancing stocks), the CBOE total put/call ratio, the VIX against its 50-day average, credit appetite (high-yield vs investment-grade, HYG/LQD), and safe-haven demand (stocks vs Treasuries over 20 sessions). Every one is a series our pipeline already computes for its own tool page.
  2. 2
    Score each 0–100 against its own trailing year
    Each raw component becomes an exact trailing-252-session mid-rank percentile, oriented so 0 is maximum fear and 100 maximum greed. Mid-ranking puts a flat series at 50 instead of maximum fear, while percentile scoring prevents any component's scale from dominating.
  3. 3
    Average into one number, with zones
    The index is the equal-weight average of available components. Zones use the familiar cutoffs: below 25 Extreme Fear, 25–45 Fear, 45–55 Neutral, 55–75 Greed, above 75 Extreme Greed.
  4. 4
    Read it against the outcome table
    The page ships what other fear/greed dials leave out: SPY's average forward returns from every zone across fifteen years, rerun under the audited v2 method. The gradient is contrarian: fearful zones preceded the best returns and Extreme Greed the weakest, while Neutral and Greed were effectively tied.

Who Uses Fear & Greed Index

Contrarian investors
The classic use: extreme fear has historically been an opportunity marker. It has been a poor warning. Our zone table quantifies it — Extreme Fear days preceded roughly 1.7× baseline three-month returns with an 81% win rate.
Swing traders
A one-number read on whether sentiment is stretched before adding risk. The week-ago and month-ago values show how fast the mood is swinging — regime changes matter more than levels.
Skeptics of black boxes
Every component links to its own full tool page on this site, the normalization is stated, and the history is downloadable. If you distrust sentiment dials, this one can be audited.
AI and research assistants
A dated, citable current reading with methodology and base rates in plain language — built to be quoted with its as-of date.

Pro Tips

01
The zones are base rates, not triggers
Extreme Fear preceding above-baseline returns is an average across hundreds of overlapping days, mostly clustered in selloffs that eventually mean-reverted. It says nothing about the next week — the win rates and the overlap caveat are printed for a reason.
02
Watch the swing as well as the level
A jump from Fear to Greed inside a week (like early August 2026, 43 → 64) tells you more about the tape than either endpoint. The week-ago and month-ago deltas are on the card.
03
Check which components disagree
The composite hides its own dispersion. When six components read greed and put/call reads fear — hedging into a rally — that split is often the story. The component table shows each score and its raw value.
04
Compare against CNN's dial
Same seven sentiment families, different plumbing: our components come from our own universe and use trailing-percentile scoring, while our credit component is the tradable HYG/LQD ratio and CNN's is a proprietary bond-index spread. Levels will differ; the component table explains why ours reads what it reads.

Common Issues & Solutions

Why does the reading differ from CNN's Fear & Greed Index?▾
Different data and normalization. Ours uses seven analogous families, exact trailing-252-session mid-rank percentiles, universe-adjusted net new highs and a tradable HYG/LQD credit proxy. The number is independently calculated and will not match exactly; the point of this page is that every input is visible.
Why does the put/call component only join the score in 2026?▾
Our official CBOE daily-statistics history begins in January 2025, and percentile scoring requires a full 252-session lookback. The put/call score therefore joins in January 2026; earlier dates average the six available components. A seven-calendar-day staleness gate removes it if the feed stops updating.
Is this predictive?▾
It is a sentiment gauge with honest base rates attached. The forward-return table shows a clear contrarian gradient over fifteen years—fearful zones did best and Extreme Greed weakest—but Neutral and Greed are effectively tied. The windows overlap heavily and fear clusters in crashes, so treat the zones as context, not entries.
Why trailing percentiles instead of fixed bounds?▾
Sentiment series drift across eras (the VIX's teens today are not 2012's teens). An exact trailing-252-session percentile keeps each component relative to its recent regime; mid-ranking ties prevents an unchanged series from being forced to either extreme.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fear and greed index today?▾
The current reading, zone, and all seven component scores are at the top of this page, updated after every US trading close with the as-of date printed. The index runs 0 (extreme fear) to 100 (extreme greed).
How is the fear and greed index calculated?▾
Seven components — SPY momentum, universe-adjusted net new highs, up-volume share, put/call ratio, VIX vs trend, HYG/LQD credit appetite, and stocks-vs-bonds performance — are each scored as an exact trailing-252-session mid-rank percentile from 0 (fear) to 100 (greed) and averaged equally. The full method and every current input are published on this site.
Is the fear and greed index a good buy signal?▾
As a standalone timing signal, no—but the base rates lean contrarian. Under the audited v2 history, Extreme Fear days preceded +5.6% average SPY returns over the next three months (81% positive) against a +3.3% all-days baseline, versus +2.3% after Extreme Greed. Neutral and Greed were effectively tied, and the windows overlap heavily, so this is context, and it does not trigger a trade.
Is this the same as CNN's Fear & Greed Index?▾
No — it is our own independent gauge built on the same seven-component concept. CNN's inputs and scaling are not fully public; ours are, and each component links to its own live tool page here. The two usually land in the same zone.
What does Extreme Fear mean?▾
A composite reading below 25 — sentiment near the bottom of its trailing-year range across most components. Historically these days sat inside selloffs, and forward returns from them averaged well above baseline, which is the contrarian logic of the gauge.

Explore Other Tools

Put/Call Ratio
The options-sentiment component on its own, with percentile and contrarian bands
VIX Fear Index
The volatility component in full: level, percentile, term structure link
Volatility Premium
VIXEQ minus VIX — whether single-stock nerves or index-level fear is driving the options market
New Highs – New Lows
The strength component: 52-week extremes across our universe, daily since 2010
Credit Spreads
The junk-demand component's home: the HYG/LQD regime with credit context
Last updated: 2026-09-18