*VIX pops up, widening its gap with realized volatility *S&P 500 breaks below critical 900 level By Doris Frankel CHICAGO, July 2 (Reuters) - As stocks close out the week on a downbeat note after a worse-than-expected jobs report and in front of earnings, investors have become more worried about volatile markets in coming weeks. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, Wall Street's favorite measure of investor sentiment, jumped to a session high of 28.62 on Thursday, up more than 15 percent from Wednesday's intraday low, as cautious investors protect themselves against market gyrations when earnings reports begin to trickle out next week. Near the close, the VIX was up 6.7 percent at 27.98 after weak jobs data and thin volume helped drive the Standard & Poor's 500 Index down 2.8 percent to 897.29, just below 900, considered a critical psychological support level. The New York Stock Exchange extended Thursday's trading session to 2015 GMT due to technical glitches. On Wednesday, the VIX fell as low as 24.80, a level not seen since Sept. 12, 2008, the Friday before Lehman Brothers collapsed. Options traders have recently picked up VIX calls and S&P 500 put options to insure against downside risk and a bearish scenario for the S&P benchmark in the coming weeks, said Chris McKhann, an analyst at Web information site optionMonster.com. "We have seen a bit of a rise in the VIX, based on a disappointing jobs report ahead of the holiday weekend," said Scott Fullman, director of derivative investment strategy at New York-based broker-dealer WJB Capital Group. "It appears that traders had been paying up for protection ahead of the end of a short week," he said. The VIX is a 30-day risk forecast priced off of S&P 500 index options; it often moves up when the S&P benchmark falls as traders bid up options to manage stock market risk. VOLATILITY MAY JUMP IN JULY The rise in the VIX could be a sign that traders are expecting larger price swings in July after subdued market action during June, said Frederic Ruffy, options strategist at Web information site WhatsTrading.com. In recent years, July has been a bearish month for the stock market with the S&P 500 losing ground in the month during seven of the past 10 years, he said. The S&P 500 "could go down to 887, the 200-day moving average for the S&P 500, in the near term," said Dan Deming, a trader at Stutland Equities, an option market-maker firm in Chicago. "That is why we are seeing volatility escalate." But volume has been thin over the past several weeks and Thursday's trading has also reflected that, given that the markets will be closed on Friday, Fullman said. The jump in the VIX has also widened the divergence between the VIX and realized volatility for the S&P 500, which currently sits at 18.8 percent over the past 20 sessions, McKhann said. Realized volatility, which measures the daily price movement for the S&P 500, has been declining since it peaked in November, and is now at its lowest level since last September. "Based on technical and volatility analysis, I would not be surprised to see the S&P 500 fall to 840 in the near term," McKhann said. (Editing by Jan Paschal)
Stockcharts.com would only let me post 6 indices at a time, however, in order to overlay the 50,200-daily EMA's, I had to double up on the majpo 3's (S&P 500, Nasdaq and DJIA), leaving me little place for NYSE and the Russell (coming up in a separate chart):
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