Earlier today, when previewing today's quad witching day, we casually predicted that a “vol surge” lay ahead. What we really meant was a vol of vol 

The spike can be seen here:

… Which in turn led to a matched and just as ridiculous move in VIX:

Nanex' Eric Hunsader provided a zoomed in version of the flash smashy festivities, which one really should just sit back and enjoy:

The new game: $VXX induced arbitrage, faster, and better than you. This went down in 3 seconds: pic.twitter.com/JpAdGCvzCf

— Eric Scott Hunsader (@nanexllc) March 20, 2015

Bad #HFT algo in $VIX – 33% of all U.S. stock trading in these symbols. Chart shows 10 seconds pic.twitter.com/vu2r7sxeDA

— Eric Scott Hunsader (@nanexllc) March 20, 2015

And the day is not even halfway done. Expect many more algo-induced market freak outs now that not only the biotech sector…

As for the market, which is now nothing more than a daily crime scene, events like these will continue as long as they provide short-term, paper benefits to more than half of the trading population. It is only after the crash that the wrath of the regulators, misplaced for the past 7 years, will magically reappear.