S&P 500 Range This Year Belies Index's Recent Volatility: Chart

This year has been less volatile for U.S. stocks than the ups and downs of the past few weeks would suggest. The gap between the S&P 500 Index’s Sept. 20 high and Feb. 8 low is 13.6 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. There hasn’t been a narrower range for a full year since 2005, when the spread was 11.9 percent. This indicator was mentioned by Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial, in a Twitter post Thursday. Since 1950, the gap has averaged 27 percent annually, he wrote.