Economics 17/08/2009: US markets jitters

US Markets: I've told you to be weary of the return of volatility. Chart below shows today's sudden- 17% jump in VIX volatility index and the coincident fall-off in the main markets (sorry, crumbling Eircom broadband infrastructure means I can't get my hand on better charts right now):

Even more worrisome is the following chart, showing that both near-term VIX and long-term VIX are actually in excess of the current VIX, so markets are now pricing higher volatility for the foreseeable future.
Another telling graph above - notice negative correlation of the last few months turning positive about a week ago and back to negative now - this is a likely holding pattern as in 2007 late Summer and 2008 Summer-Fall.

China was the latest trigger today, but it all goes back to trade flow, as China is a barometer of this and trade flows are a barometer of global growth...