Thanks for the very comprehensive and complete post. Unfortunately the same divergence of "Lower high at market bottom" is not reliable in the small daily time frame of the recent market bottom in August and correction in November. A slightly lower high was made by the VIX on the 30th & 31st of August when the the SPX made equivalent closes. Basically good divergence was exhibited throughout the last week of August.
However where the SPX made equivalent bottoms on the 16th, 23rd & 30th of November. On those days the VIX made successively lower highs with the exception of the 30th when a higher hammer was formed which is negative divergence.
Basically I look at the VIX for an inverse correlation to the SPX for confirmation but I have never looked at it as you are suggesting. Your comment on volume is thought provoking also especially as we have had the volume declining since this rally began in September and dropping seriously in December even considering seasonal adjustments.
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