Big day for stocks

The Dow gained 103.61 points to close at 11,123.03. Lots of encouraging news came out today, with strong earnings from JP Morgan Chase (and yesterday from Intel), as well as the boost in March retail sales. Who knows how long this upward climb might go on, but markets typically change course after periods of extreme volatility, and that's not happening. In fact, the Market Volatility Index (VIX) is nearing a three-year low, which suggests that investors are neither scared about an imminent sell-off nor excited about the prospect of huge gains. In other words, they're just rolling along. From the WSJ:

When the Dow topped out at an all-time intraday high of 14198.10 on Oct. 11, 2007, the VIX had been trending higher for nearly a year until it had just about doubled off the December 2006 low. In the two months leading up to the high, the average intraday trading range widened to 168.30 points, with triple-digit ranges in 33 of 43 sessions, while the Dow rose 7.2%. Meanwhile, the VIX hit a low of 15.23 earlier this week, the lowest level seen since July 2007 and well below the Oct. 11, 2007 close of 18.88. The Dow's average daily trading range over the last month has been 82.87 points, with triple-digit ranges in only 6 of the last 22 sessions.