The VIX is up 32% from its low. That's quite a jump but look at what happened last Oct/Nov. The VIX jumped 44% but the corresponding drop in the SP500 was a mere 5.6%. Not enough to even dent the ongoing uptrend.
The current 3% retracement could more than double and still leave a strong, healthy uptrend.
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...sPB/VIX122.gif