Risk on Risk off is an investment setting in which price behaviour responds to and is driven by changes in investor risk tolerance. Risk and risk off occurs to changes in investment activity in response to global economic patterns. During periods when the risk is perceived as low, risk on risk off theory states that investors tend to engage in higher risk investments. When risk is perceived as high, investors have a tendency to gravitate towards lower risk investment. Investor's appetite for risk rise and fall overtime. At times they are more likely to invest in higher risk instruments than during other periods such as during the 2009 recovery. 2008 Financial crisis was considered a risk off year in which investors attempted to reduce risk by selling existing risky positions and moving money to either cash positions or lower no risk positions such as US Treasury bonds.