<div id="readability-page-1"><div> By Isabel Wang and Joseph Adinolfi Options traders are signaling trouble, and systematic funds are expected to cut their exposure to U.S. stocks Options traders are hoovering up protection and systematic funds are poised to unload more of their exposure to stocks next week. Storm clouds are gathering over Wall Street. U.S. stocks drifted lower in a slow grind over the past two weeks, as the conflict with Iran stoked worries about inflation and interest ?rates as oil prices shot higher. And investors are bracing for what could be a painful leg lower this week. One indication of this: The gap between the level of the Cboe Volatility Index VIX and the S&amp;P 500's SPX realized volatility over the prior 10 days was 10 points wider than it should have been last week, according to Rocky Fishman, founder of Asym 500, a firm that focuses on data and analytics for the options market. The Cboe Volatility Index is better known as the VIX, or Wall Street's &#34;fear gauge.&#34; See: Options traders are pricing in 'disaster' as Iran conflict intensifies. Here's how investors might profit. &#34;One-month S&amp;P 500 realized volatility is at just 12%, and the index is within 5% of its all-time high - both metrics that on a stand-alone basis would say markets are calm,&#34; Fishman said in written commentary. That means recent swings in the S&amp;P 500 don't fully reflect the level of fear being expressed in the options market. The level of the VIX is driven by trading in S&amp;P 500 options contracts. A higher VIX can mean more investors are seeking out protection against a market crash. See: Investors are shunning U.S. debt as a haven play during the Iran conflict On the surface, only two of the past 10 sessions saw the S&amp;P 500 finish down 1% or more - although in some cases, these closing levels can mask the intraday swings seen during the session. And yet the VIX finished Friday above 27, a level that is roughly one standard deviation above the index's long-term average. &#34;Despite some of the most extraordinary intraday moves up and down percentage-wise, they just put stocks back in this position of stasis or neutrality,&#34; said Hank Smith, director and head of investment strategy at Haverford Trust. &#34;We're doing no harm.&#34; However, the stock market looks more fragile underneath the hood. On Friday, just 31% of the S&amp;P 500's components finished above their 50-day moving average, near the lowest level since Nov. 20, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The 50-DMA is one of the most widely used technical indicators on market strength. A common refrain among investors is that the more stocks in a benchmark index hold above that level, the more bullish the market conditions are for investors. As of Friday's close, major U.S. equity indexes, including the S&amp;P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and Nasdaq Composite COMP, were trading slightly above or a bit below their 200-day moving averages, another important trend line. Technical strategists view a break below the 200-DMA as a signal of more pain ahead. The rotation trade that had helped push up values of consumer-staples XX:SP500.30 and industrial XX:SP500.20 stocks earlier this year also has slammed into reverse, suggesting that rallies in previously lagging sectors and in small-cap equities might be running out of steam, as the chart above reflects. That would leave markets back in the less-than-ideal position of narrow leadership, with gains once again concentrated within the information-technology sector XX:SP500.45 and a handful of Big Tech stocks, such as Nvidia (NVDA) and Alphabet (GOOGL) (GOOG). Alphabet is officially a member of the communication-services sector XX:SP500.50, but like many other megacap companies it is often lumped in with Big Tech. Investors often seek out shares of megacap tech companies during times of turmoil; the aftermath of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023 was one such example. But strong earnings from Oracle (ORCL) and Broadcom (AVGO) also helped boost the technology sector last week, said Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at Zacks Investment Management, during an interview with MarketWatch. &#34;But what you're seeing is still a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the outcome and the duration of the [Iran] war, and what it is going to mean for inflationary pressures,&#34; Mulberry said. After lagging the broader market in the first two months of 2026, technology stocks have regained the leadership role, with the Nasdaq outperforming the S&amp;P 500 and the Dow over the past two weeks. The small-cap Russell 2000 RUT has gotten hammered, erasing its year-to-date gains since the Iran conflict sent markets into a tailspin, according to FactSet data. Haverford Trust's Smith said traders still appear hesitant to sell heavily because many fear missing a sudden market recovery. That ties with President Donald Trump's history of backtracking under pressure from financial markets - a tendency that some call the &#34;TACO&#34; trade, using an acronym that stands for &#34;Trump Always Chickens Out.&#34; &#34;Traders don't want to get caught in a situation where, all of a sudden, the the president declares victory and the bombing ends, and then the market just shoots way higher,&#34; Smith told MarketWatch. &#34;That's probably one reason why the the S&amp;P 500 hasn't sustained a more significant decline this month - there's trading money out there that is really concerned about missing out on a spike in the markets,&#34; Smith added. The pace of the selling could pick up this coming week as systematic trend-following funds are poised to cut $36 billion worth of exposure to U.S. stocks, according to a Friday report from Goldman Sachs. If the market moves sharply lower, those funds could be forced to unwind their positions even more aggressively. To be sure, stocks were looking wobbly even before the Iran conflict broke out. The S&amp;P 500, Dow and Nasdaq each tallied a third straight weekly loss on Friday. For the S&amp;P 500, that is the longest streak of weekly losses in a year. -Isabel Wang -Joseph Adinolfi This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones &amp; Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. <pre></pre> (END) Dow Jones Newswires 03-15-26 1514ETCopyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones &amp; Company, Inc.</div></div>

美國大盤成長股 ETF - Charles Schwab

全美價值股指數 ETF - Vanguard

標普 600 小盤價值股 ETF - SPDR

恐慌情緒正在席捲股市，期權交易者發出警告，系統性基金準備減少對美國股票的投資。由於通貨膨脹和利率的擔憂加劇，尤其是受到伊朗衝突的影響，美國股票出現下跌。Cboe 波動率指數（VIX）顯示出恐懼加劇，儘管標普 500 最近保持穩定。只有 31% 的標普 500 成分股高於其 50 日移動平均線，暗示市場脆弱。科技板塊重新獲得領導地位，但關於伊朗衝突對通貨膨脹和市場穩定性的影響仍然存在不確定性

Panic is slowly gripping the stock market. Expect the selling to pick up this week.

- 選項交易員聚集保護，系統資金預計將減少對美國股票的曝露。  
- 由於與伊朗的衝突，加上通脹與利率擔憂，美國股市近期下跌。  
- 系統性資金預計將削減價值 360 億美元的美股曝露，可能加大市場下行壓力。

MorningStar

金融業 ETF - Vanguard

美國小盤價值股 ETF - Avantis

羅素 1000 成長指數 ETF - iShares

超大盤股價值 ETF - Vanguard

全美成長股指數 MSCI ETF - Vanguard

2 倍做多標普 500 ETF - ProShares

標普 500 低波動率 ETF - PowerShares

3 倍做多標普 500 ETF - ProShares

3 倍做空標普 500 ETF - ProShares

美國低波動股指數 ETF - iShares

股票溢價收益 ETF - JPMorgan Chase

標普 500 波動率指數

2 倍做空標普 500 ETF - ProShares

美國經紀商&證券交易所 ETF - iShares

Avantis US Large Cap Value ETF

美國紅利股指數 ETF - Charles Schwab

中盤價值股 ETF - Vanguard

美國小盤價值股 ETF - Vanguard

標普 400 中盤價值股 ETF - Vanguard

標普 500 ETF - Vanguard

羅素 2000 價值股指數 ETF - iShares

美國小盤成長股 ETF - Vanguard

標普 500 指數股票型基金

核心美國價值 ETF - iShares

納指 100 ETF - Invesco

金融指數 MSCI ETF - Fidelity

3 倍做多標普 500 ETF - Direxion

金融業 ETF - SPDR

核心標普美國增長 ETF - iShares

Cboe Validus S&P 500 Dynamic Putwrite Index ETF

超大盤股成長 ETF - Vanguard

美國價值因素 MSCI ETF - iShares

標普 500 ETF - iShares

2 倍做多恐慌指數期貨 ETF

標普 500 等權指數 ETF - Guggenheim

做空標普 500 ETF - ProShares

納斯達克 100 備兑認購期權 ETF -GlobalX

標普 500 指數

3 倍做空標普 500 ETF - Direxion

股市正逐漸被恐慌情緒籠罩。預計本週的拋售活動將會加劇