Is expected volatility actually causing less volatility?

So for the last week people have been mostly expecting highly volatile markets during the month of January, but the past 2-3 days we have seen the exact opposite. The daily changes in the market have been very small <1% changes in the market.

Is the fact that we all expect volatility actually causing people to feel more comfortable holding their stocks, actually causing less volatility?

Meanwhile many people see this low spot as a time to buy which could be causing the small increases we are seeing in the market. Is it possible that traders gained some confidence and that this could be when the market starts rising again?

Submitted December 31, 2018 at 12:05PM by multiple4 http://bit.ly/2Ao5qxH