Fear and loathing
Wednesday's selling pressure was heavy and persistent. By the end of the day, the VIX "fear gauge" spiked more than 20% when it was already at a high level. That was its first close above 40 in months. And 2 out of the past 3 days saw such overwhelming selling that both NYSE Up Issues and Up Volume were below 15%. These types of behaviors triggered early in the decline in February but otherwise preceded mostly positive returns.