Could investors using Vix index products to profit from market volatility, rather than to insure against equity losses, be dictating the volatility of individual S&P 500 stocks?

The CBOE Volatility Index, developed by US options exchange operator CBOE, offers a gauge of the likely level of future movement in S&P 500 stocks, known as their implied volatility. More colloquially, its known as Wall Street's Fear Gauge. The index is highly inversely correlated to the S&P 500 leading equity index, usually rocketing when the index falls, giving investors an imperfect hedge against equity losses.