Expect Choppy Waters (VIX, DJI)

CNBC's Bob Pisani is reporting that traders are expecting choppier markets for the rest of 2010. This is somewhat of a surprise given the dramatic selloff in 2008 and then the dramatic comeback in 2009. The consensus was that 2010 would be a calmer year with slow and steady gains. Well, the consensus is usually wrong. Many traders were short volatility as the CBOE Market Volatility Index (

) sunk to below 16 in April. Now the VIX has shot up to over 40-briefly touching 48 this morning as the Dow (DJI) plunged below 10,000 before recovering. That was the highest level for volatility since early 2009, right when the bull market began. Stay tuned, in 2010 it appears that traders are back and that buy-and-hold is dead--for now.