THIS market is not for the faint-hearted.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) - the market's best fear gauge - shot above 40 again on Friday after jumping as high as 50 earlier in the week. This compares to below 14 at the end of January.

After a turbulent week of wild swings, the Dow Jones Industrial Average eventually closed at 24,190.90, up 330.44 points, or 1.38 per cent, on Friday on Wall Street. During the past two weeks, more than US$5.2 trillion has been wiped off global markets as measured by the S&P Global BMI Index, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices' Howard Silverblatt. This exceeds the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United Kingdom and Canada combined.