We begin March by taking a moment to review what happened over the last month in the financial markets. February was an extremely turbulent month, one that we have not experienced the likes of since 2011.

Only three weeks ago, the equity markets were posting all-time highs every day and volatility was extremely low; in fact, on the day we last wrote you, January 11, 2018, the CBOE Volatility Index closed at 9.88.[1] This index measures equity market volatility by inference from the prices of equity options; high volatility is typically interpreted as investor nervousness; lower volatility as the lack of nervousness, and extremely low volatility as complacency.