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Justifying the Volatility of S&P 500 Daily Returns

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  • Hayden Brown

Abstract

Over the past 60 years, there has been a gradual increase in the volatility of daily returns for the S&P 500 Index. Hypothetically, suppose that market forces determine daily volatility such that a daily leveraged S&P 500 fund cannot outperform a standard S&P 500 fund in the long run. Then this hypothetical volatility happens to support the increase in volatility seen in the S&P 500 index. On this basis, it appears that the classic argument of the market portfolio being unbeatable in the long run is determining the volatility of S&P 500 daily returns. Moreover, it follows that the long-term volatility of the daily returns for the S&P 500 Index should continue to increase until passing a particular threshold. If, on the other hand, this hypothesis about market forces increasing volatility is invalid, then there is room for daily leveraged S&P 500 funds to outperform their unleveraged counterparts in the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Hayden Brown, 2024. "Justifying the Volatility of S&P 500 Daily Returns," Papers 2403.01088, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2024.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2403.01088
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Perron, Pierre & Qu, Zhongjun, 2010. "Long-Memory and Level Shifts in the Volatility of Stock Market Return Indices," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 28(2), pages 275-290.
    2. Itzhak Ben‐David & Francesco Franzoni & Rabih Moussawi, 2018. "Do ETFs Increase Volatility?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(6), pages 2471-2535, December.
    3. Christian Conrad & Karin Loch, 2015. "Anticipating Long‐Term Stock Market Volatility," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1090-1114, November.
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