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ETFs Are The Market

Market-environment intelligence from the ETF tape — macro · sector · thematic

Descriptive context · not buy/sell signalsEOD 2026-08-21 · full sources in footer
00
Market Read

calm, broadening risk-on — caution node: semis

risk-on +2
of 5 votes: IWM/SPY +1 · XLY/XLP -1 · credit +1 · havens 0 · vol-term +1

VIX 15.1 in contango; cross-asset risk vote +2 (risk-on). Breadth broadening — IWM/SPY at the 86th percentile, 72% of S&P 500 members above their 200-day, HY OAS at the 8th percentile. Leadership rotating from decelerating SMH toward XBI, ARKK, MSOS. The one caution node: semis — see the ranked reads.

Credit appetiteSOLID
8th %ile
HY OAS 270bps at the 8th percentile of its window — credit calm — spreads near window tights. HY/IG price ratio confirms.
Breadth: broadeningSOLID
86th %ile
IWM/SPY at the 86th percentile, 72% of S&P 500 members above their 200-day — broadening.
Volatility: calmSOLID
15.1
VIX 15.1 with vix/vix3m 0.82 (contango) — calm tape.
Leadership / rotationSOLID
6 names
leadership rotating from decelerating SMH toward XBI, ARKK, MSOS.
What changed · vs Wed Aug 19New read: Froth thermometerTension appeared: Rotation vs trendHY OAS %ile -4.3ppfroth bull $ -$930.2MRSP/SPY %ile +2.4ppS&P 500 > 200-DMA +1.8ppIWM/SPY %ile -2.0ppVIX +0.24
00·5

Where the Feeds Agree

Cross-feed convergences (confirm) and tensions (caution) no single feed shows
Confirm
semis: fragility node
fragilityleadershipspeculation
SMH relative strength vs SPY, own ~1y baseline = 100 117.8SMH momentum of that relative strength (RRG y-axis) 92.93SMH RRG quadrant (Leading/Weakening/Lagging/Improving) Weakeningsemis estimated LETF rebalance flow, % of the sector's vanilla proxy-ETF ADV 0.2267semis fragility rank (1 = most mechanically loaded) 2semis leveraged-ETF vs vanilla $-volume ratio (crowding gauge) 2.043semis speculative-intensity rank (1 = most crowded) 1
feeds: leverage · rotation · signal strength 0.8 of 1.0 max
Confirm
risk appetite widening
breadthcreditparticipation
hy OAS percentile within its own trailing window 8th %ilehy 60-session change in the spread, bps -4hy option-adjusted spread level, bps 270IWM/SPY 1y percentile of the ratio's own range 86th %ile% of eligible members above their 200-day 72.5count of RRG names in the Improving quadrant 5
feeds: breadth · regime · signal strength 0.5 of 1.0 max
Tension D4
Calm surface / crowded underneath
placid index but semis fragile (rank<=2) and crowded (spec 2.04x)
VIX index level 15.13semis leveraged-ETF vs vanilla $-volume ratio (crowding gauge) 2.043semis fragility rank (1 = most mechanically loaded) 2
feeds: regime · leverage · signal strength 0.7 of 1.0 max
Tension D6
Rotation vs trend
XLF Lagging on RS but technically strong
XLF RRG quadrant (Leading/Weakening/Lagging/Improving) LaggingXLF trend regime: ADX-filtered 50/200 cross (up/down/ranging) up
feeds: rotation · technical-board · signal strength 0.5 of 1.0 max
01

State of the Tape

calm, risk-on, broadening — havens quiet
yfinance · EOD 2026-08-21
Vol
VIX
15.1indexΔ +0.24 vs Wed Aug 19
contango / calm
VIX/VIX3M 0.818 · VIX9D/VIX 0.831
Credit
HY OAS · FRED / ICE BofA option-adjusted spreads
270bps · 8th %ileΔ -3 bps vs Wed Aug 19Δ -4.3pp vs Wed Aug 19
credit calm — spreads near window tights
methodology & data vintage
percentile window: since 2023-08 (FRED serves ICE BofA OAS as a trailing ~3y window) · -4 bps/60d
HY/IG price ratio (HYG/LQD) — a credit-appetite proxy: 99th %ile · 10y (confirming)
OAS as of 2026-08-21 · FRED OAS observations are EOD and typically lag the equity tape by one session
Breadth · hero
IWM / SPY
86th%ile · 1y rangeΔ -2.0pp vs Wed Aug 19
breadth broadening · -0.6%/20d
full-history rank · 20th %ile · 10y
Small-caps leading large — IWM/SPY at the 86th percentile of its 1y range — broadening.
Dollar
UUP
+0.5% /60d
dollar softening
Havens
GLD
+3.6%/60d
haven bid / gold firm
Gold flat over 60d with the dollar soft — no strong haven signal.
XLY/XLP offense/defense · 89th %ile · 10y · defensive rotation · XLY is itself 40.3% AI-capex — see §05TLT rates · -3.8%/60d · rates rising / duration under pressurerisk-on tape — contango — dollar softening — rates rising — gold bid — credit calm
Primary-market flows · 5-day net creations / redemptions
XLF-$1.6Bredeemed · -2.81% AUM · streak +1d
SOXS-$415.4Mredeemed · -31.75% AUM · streak -3d
XLV-$411.7Mredeemed · -0.91% AUM · streak -2d
TQQQ+$290.1Mcreated · +0.81% AUM · streak +5d
XLE+$280.8Mcreated · +0.67% AUM · streak +2d
XLY-$224.3Mredeemed · -0.97% AUM · streak -3d
SOXL-$203.2Mredeemed · -1.02% AUM · streak +2d
XLRE-$172.3Mredeemed · -2.04% AUM · streak -4d
XLU-$154.8Mredeemed · -0.70% AUM · streak +1d
SPXL-$100.1Mredeemed · -1.46% AUM · streak -3d
XLI-$97.3Mredeemed · -0.29% AUM · streak +1d
XLB-$94.0Mredeemed · -1.06% AUM · streak -1d
XLC-$72.9Mredeemed · -0.33% AUM · streak -3d
TNA-$66.2Mredeemed · -5.04% AUM · streak +0d
XLP+$25.2Mcreated · +0.17% AUM · streak -1d
LABU-$15.9Mredeemed · -2.35% AUM · streak -1d
TECL-$15.1Mredeemed · -0.27% AUM · streak +0d
YINN-$13.5Mredeemed · -1.95% AUM · streak -3d
XLK+$8.1Mcreated · +0.01% AUM · streak +2d
NAIL+$7.9Mcreated · +1.42% AUM · streak +1d
YANG+$7.2Mcreated · +7.35% AUM · streak +0d
TSLL+$5.6Mcreated · +0.14% AUM · streak -1d
ERX+$5.4Mcreated · +2.04% AUM · streak +0d
LABD+$4.5Mcreated · +6.57% AUM · streak +1d · 1 masked
SPXS+$3.5Mcreated · +1.01% AUM · streak -3d
ERY+$3.2Mcreated · +8.08% AUM · streak +2d
TECS-$3.1Mredeemed · -4.48% AUM · streak +0d
TZA-$2.1Mredeemed · -0.89% AUM · streak -1d
DPST-$826Kredeemed · -0.23% AUM · streak +2d
SQQQ-$69Kredeemed · -0.00% AUM · streak +1d
5 legs have no free NAV/shares source (defiance / graniteshares / t-rex / tradr) — a structural absence, not an outage.
flows as-of 2026-08-24 · issuer NAV/shares (T-1: freshest value is prior close)
methodology · masks · caveats
coverage 30/30 legs · grade DIRECTIONAL · implemented issuers: ProShares 2 · Direxion 17 · SSGA sectors 11 · unsupported 5
11 split-suspect day(s) masked(|ΔSO| > 25% — a split/restatement guard; a genuine giant-flow day is masked too):
LABD2026-08-20: |dSO|=25.3% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
SOXS2026-07-15: |dSO|=90.0% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
SPXS2026-08-03: |dSO|=38.3% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
TECS2026-07-15: |dSO|=90.0% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
TSLL2026-08-03: |dSO|=27.0% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
TZA2026-07-15: |dSO|=90.0% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
XLK2025-12-05: |dSO|=99.7% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
XLE2025-12-05: |dSO|=99.8% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
XLY2025-12-05: |dSO|=95.0% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
XLU2025-12-05: |dSO|=101.5% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
XLB2025-12-05: |dSO|=98.6% of SO (> 25%) — flow masked
  • T-1 staleness: issuer NAV/shares strike after the close — freshest value is prior close.
  • In-kind creations/redemptions are primary-market activity, not screen pressure.
  • Delta-SO flow is a lower bound on positioning change (internalized AP activity nets out).
  • Days with |delta-SO| > 25% are masked as suspect (split/restatement guard); a genuine giant flow day is also masked — inspect errors[] for masked rows.
  • Direxion flows use close price as NAV proxy (issuer publishes no NAV in the holdings CSV).
  • No percentile/z-score claims: cross-fund flow history is too short for most funds (later task).
Index calendar · upcomingmonthly OpEx in 0d 2026-08-21triple-witching / S&P rebalance in 28d 2026-09-18Russell reconstitution in 308d 2027-06-25rule-derived from 2026-08-21: 3rd-Friday expirations · last-Friday-of-June Russell recon
02

Technical Board

broad uptrend, cooling near-term
yfinance · EOD 2026-08-21
Constituent breadth · S&P 500 members vs their own 200/50-DMA
72% of S&P 500 members above their 200-day (362/499 eligible of 503 · broad)Δ +1.8pp vs Wed Aug 19 · 60% above 50-day (301/500)
72% of S&P 500 members above their 200-day moving average — broad participation
coverage gap 2 of 503 members not measured (short history / data gap) —
show 2
EA · EQR
RSP/SPY · 74th %ile · +0.2%/20d · +4.7%/60dΔ +2.4pp vs Wed Aug 19QQQE/QQQ · 98th %ile · +2.0%/20d · +7.0%/60dequal-weight ÷ cap-weight — rising = the average member leading
60 sessions · latest n 499/503 · backseries computed against current membership — historical sessions carry mild survivorship (index adds/removals inside the window, a few names of ~503); the latest reading is clean
constituent breadth as of 2026-08-21 · grade SOLID · direct measurement (no fund proxy)
ETF-proxy read (confirming) · 76% of tracked equity ETFs above their 200-day (19/25 — regime proxies excluded) · 60% above 20-day
Participation is broad (72% of S&P 500 members above their 200-day) with no name stretched more than +25% above trend.
Signal by exception · 3 flagged
XLERSI 72 · overboughtXLURSI 33 · oversoldURAbasing → turning up
Board pills vs the hero read: 3 of 4Broad market” pills read “range / mixed” — a per-fund price-trend vote (ADX-gated) — while the §00 hero nets cross-asset risk votes (risk-on +2). Different questions; disagreement is by design.
Show full board — all 30 names, all columns
TickerPricevs20vs200RSIADX50/200StateRead (trend · mom · agree)Note
Broad market
SPY765.72+0.4%+8.2%541950▲200 287drange / mixed up · neutral · confirming
QQQ713.44+0.6%+9.3%501450▲200 292drange / mixed up · neutral · confirming
IWM299.96+0.5%+11.1%531450▲200 262drange / mixed up · neutral · confirming
DIA532.22-0.1%+7.4%521650▲200 278dpulling back in uptrend up · neutral · confirming
Sectors (SPDR)
XLK183.31+0.3%+15.7%501450▲200 87drange / mixed up · neutral · diverging
XLF57.48-0.1%+8.0%552650▲200 31dtrending up up · neutral · confirming
XLV174.62+4.5%+13.2%682850▲200 32dtrending up up · firm · confirming
XLE63.64+5.6%+18.1%722850▲200 235dtrending up up · overbought · confirming
XLI180.25-1.7%+6.3%431550▲200 296dpulling back in uptrend up · soft · diverging
XLY118.02+1.0%+0.8%541650▼200 36dbasing / coiling flat · neutral · diverging
XLP85.99+0.5%+3.8%541650▲200 135dbasing / coiling up · neutral · confirming
XLU42.77-3.0%-4.4%331250▲200 302dbasing / coiling flat · soft · confirming
XLB53.54+2.5%+8.0%611250▲200 270drange / mixed up · firm · confirming
XLRE45.08+0.0%+5.1%52950▲200 120dbasing / coiling up · neutral · confirming
XLC111.40+0.7%-2.3%521150▼200 67dbasing / coiling down · neutral · diverging
Themes & speculative
SMH560.42-0.4%+20.0%461550▲200 288dpulling back in uptrend up · neutral · divergingsemiconductors / AI capex
KWEB26.66-3.9%-14.0%441550▼200 143drange / mixed down · soft · confirmingChina internet
MSOS4.96+12.1%+13.6%641250▲200 56drange / mixed flat · firm · divergingUS cannabis (regulatory catalyst)
TAN49.32-3.2%-10.6%392150▼200 3drange / mixed flat · soft · confirmingsolar
XHB106.50-1.3%-0.5%471150▲200 17dbasing / coiling flat · neutral · confirminghomebuilders
XBI165.73+6.3%+24.9%632350▲200 244drange / mixed up · firm · confirmingbiotech
IGV103.37+3.4%+10.2%602550▲200 3dtrending up flat · firm · divergingsoftware
ARKK86.21+10.4%+12.4%662050▲200 29drange / mixed flat · firm · divergingdisruptive-growth / speculation
URA46.07+7.3%-5.1%601850▼200 35dbasing → turning up down · firm · diverginguranium / nuclear
ITA237.34-3.8%+3.9%402050▲200 302dpulling back in uptrend up · soft · divergingaerospace & defense
Regime proxies
HYG79.61+0.1%-0.7%511450▼200 104dbasing / coiling flat · neutral · diverging
LQD105.92-0.3%-3.1%422350▼200 102drange / mixed down · soft · confirming
TLT82.05-0.6%-5.2%432350▼200 106drange / mixed down · soft · confirming
GLD423.36+7.8%+2.4%712750▼200 37drange / mixed up · overbought · confirming
UUP27.90-0.9%+0.6%352550▲200 71dpulling back in uptrend flat · soft · confirming
03

Sector & Thematic Rotation

baton passing: SMHXBI, ARKK, MSOS
yfinance · EOD 2026-08-21
LEADINGIMPROVINGWEAKENINGLAGGINGRS-Ratio (100 = own 1y average RS, not SPY parity)RS-MomentumXLK · Weakening · RS 108.5 / Mom 99.4 · 60d -0.6%XLF · Lagging · RS 98.3 / Mom 99.2 · 60d +11.8%XLV · Leading · RS 105.1 / Mom 103.3 · 60d +17.4%XLE · Leading · RS 111.9 / Mom 101.7 · 60d +11.7%XLI · Lagging · RS 98.9 / Mom 95.2 · 60d +3.4%XLY · Improving · RS 91.5 / Mom 105.2 · 60d -2.9%XLP · Lagging · RS 95.3 / Mom 99.7 · 60d +1.7%XLU · Lagging · RS 87.3 / Mom 90.2 · 60d -5.3%XLB · Leading · RS 100.4 / Mom 101.0 · 60d +4.6%XLRE · Lagging · RS 96.2 / Mom 95.5 · 60d +1.0%XLC · Improving · RS 88.6 / Mom 102.4 · 60d -4.2%SMH · Weakening · RS 117.8 / Mom 92.9 · 60d -5.9%KWEB · Improving · RS 73.2 / Mom 101.2 · 60d -1.4%MSOS · Leading · RS 101.2 / Mom 112.6 · 60d +6.7%TAN · Lagging · RS 84.9 / Mom 92.1 · 60d -30.1%XHB · Lagging · RS 89.8 / Mom 96.2 · 60d +3.1%XBI · Leading · RS 120.4 / Mom 103.1 · 60d +23.3%IGV · Improving · RS 96.0 / Mom 116.1 · 60d +11.1%ARKK · Leading · RS 100.4 / Mom 117.0 · 60d +10.6%URA · Improving · RS 86.5 / Mom 112.2 · 60d -8.2%ITA · Lagging · RS 96.7 / Mom 95.0 · 60d +3.0%XLKXLFXLVXLEXLIXLYXLPXLUXLBXLREXLCSMHKWEBMSOSTANXHBXBIIGVARKKURAITA
● sector◆ themeLeadingWeakeningLaggingImproving (muted)
Rotation call
LeadersXBI · ARKK · MSOS · XLE · XLV · XLB
Weakening off the topSMH
Turning up5 Improving names
'Weakening' ≠ falling — SMH is still +20% above its 200-DMA. The 5-name Improving cluster is the breadth story, seen in rotation-space.
How to read: RS = each fund vs SPY; RS-Ratio 100 = the fund’s own 1y average RS, not SPY parity — >100 means stronger than its own baseline, not beating SPY outright. RS-Momentum >100 = that ratio improving. Window 252d · momentum lag 20d. Axes auto-scale to the day’s spread independently — read quadrant and direction of travel, not diagonal distance.
04

Leverage & Fragility

fragility concentrates in tech; crowding breach in semis
AUM approx · yfinance · 2026-08-21
Fragility rank · EOD rebalance footprint
% of proxy-ETF ADV per 1% move · higher = more mechanical leveraged flow
techrank #1 · ~4.09× median of 12 sectors · 1.1× the #2
24.2% of proxy-ETF ADV
semis
22.7% of proxy-ETF ADV
homebuilders
15.4% of proxy-ETF ADV
broad-ndx
9.5% of proxy-ETF ADV
financials
8.8% of proxy-ETF ADV
china
8.1% of proxy-ETF ADV
biotech
3.7% of proxy-ETF ADV
broad-spx
2.9% of proxy-ETF ADV
regional-banks
2.4% of proxy-ETF ADV
small-cap
1.9% of proxy-ETF ADV
gold-miners
1.6% of proxy-ETF ADV
energy
0.5% of proxy-ETF ADV
funds · AUM · ADV — all sectors
tech TECL / TECS · AUM $5.8B · ADV $1.4B · rebalance/1% $349.7M
semis SOXL / SOXS · AUM $21.3B · ADV $6.0B · rebalance/1% $1.4B
homebuilders NAIL · AUM $552.8M · ADV $215.0M · rebalance/1% $33.2M
broad-ndx TQQQ / SQQQ / QLD / QID · AUM $51.6B · ADV $27.8B · rebalance/1% $2.7B
financials FAS / FAZ · AUM $2.4B · ADV $1.7B · rebalance/1% $152.2M
china YINN / YANG · AUM $791.5M · ADV $656.4M · rebalance/1% $53.4M
biotech LABU / LABD · AUM $741.9M · ADV $1.3B · rebalance/1% $48.6M
broad-spx SPXL / SPXS / UPRO / SSO / SDS / SPXU · AUM $22.0B · ADV $35.1B · rebalance/1% $1.0B
regional-banks DPST · AUM $354.0M · ADV $901.2M · rebalance/1% $21.2M
small-cap TNA / TZA · AUM $1.5B · ADV $5.8B · rebalance/1% $106.9M
gold-miners NUGT / DUST · AUM $1.6B · ADV $2.2B · rebalance/1% $34.3M
energy ERX / ERY · AUM $303.9M · ADV $1.6B · rebalance/1% $7.7M
Speculative intensity · LETF ÷ vanilla $-volume
> 1.0× = leveraged turnover exceeds the plain ETF — a crowding thermometer.
1.0×
semis2.04×
broad-ndx0.25×
homebuilders0.22×
biotech0.17×
tech0.11×
china0.08×
small-cap0.08×
gold-miners0.07×
broad-spx0.05×
financials0.05×
regional-banks0.04×
energy0.02×
Semis is the sole breach — leveraged $-volume 2.04× the vanilla ETF; the next-highest sector is 0.25×.
Single-stock LETF froth · bull vs bear
Bullish · long
$22.7BΔ -$930.2M vs Wed Aug 19
58 funds · top 2 (MUU + TSLL) = 34.7% of side
Bearish · inverse
$341.4M
4 funds
66.4×
bull ÷ bear
All US leveraged/inverse single-stock ETFs with AUM of at least $50M whose AUM the multi-source resolver can TRUST (issuer-published arbiter plus aggregator agreement); underlying-agnostic; option-income funds (YieldMax etc.) are excluded by construction. Captures ~85% of the AUM in the leveraged/inverse single-stock subset. EXCLUDED: real funds of at least $50M whose AUM cannot be trusted — no issuer file to arbitrate and Schwab/yfinance diverge, or a Schwab stale-share glitch with no arbiter (SNXX ~$3.3B plus NVDX, SNDU, ROBN, WDCX and others, ~$6.9B total). This therefore UNDER-counts the subset and never over-states. The full single-stock complex (400+ funds including option-income) is materially larger; this is NOT a census of that total.
ΔSO methodology · fund breakdown (bull · bear)
ΔSO 5-day net-creation join: 59 not in the flows universe · 2 issuer unsupported in flows — states, not errors (null carries a reason, never a fabricated flow).
MUU$4.0B · 17.8% of side
TSLL$3.8B · 16.9% of side
NVDL$3.5B · 15.4% of side
GGLL$977.9M · 4.3% of side
AMDL$925.1M · 4.1% of side
MSFU$591.9M · 2.6% of side
TSMX$561.7M · 2.5% of side
MULL$529.9M · 2.3% of side
NVDU$523.8M · 2.3% of side
PLTU$457.7M · 2.0% of side
METU$438.1M · 1.9% of side
ASTX$316.0M · 1.4% of side
IRE$290.3M · 1.3% of side
INTW$289.9M · 1.3% of side
AMZU$283.8M · 1.3% of side
ORCX$230.2M · 1.0% of side
MSTX$218.2M · 1.0% of side
NOWL$215.3M · 0.9% of side
AVL$214.2M · 0.9% of side
LITX$210.2M · 0.9% of side
NEBX$210.1M · 0.9% of side
IONX$202.3M · 0.9% of side
RKLX$198.6M · 0.9% of side
AXTX$178.0M · 0.8% of side
NBIL$173.2M · 0.8% of side
AAPU$172.0M · 0.8% of side
BEX$166.0M · 0.7% of side
AVGX$163.7M · 0.7% of side
FBL$161.4M · 0.7% of side
SMCX$161.2M · 0.7% of side
TSLT$157.2M · 0.7% of side
NFXL$154.7M · 0.7% of side
OKLL$144.3M · 0.6% of side
CRCA$136.5M · 0.6% of side
MRVU$134.6M · 0.6% of side
CRWG$113.5M · 0.5% of side
DLLL$106.5M · 0.5% of side
COHX$105.3M · 0.5% of side
BABX$96.7M · 0.4% of side
CRDU$80.3M · 0.4% of side
QBTX$78.7M · 0.3% of side
HIMZ$76.4M · 0.3% of side
SOFX$72.4M · 0.3% of side
UNHG$71.8M · 0.3% of side
TSLR$71.5M · 0.3% of side
AMUU$65.7M · 0.3% of side
RGTX$60.0M · 0.3% of side
LINT$59.8M · 0.3% of side
TSMU$56.7M · 0.3% of side
ARMG$55.6M · 0.2% of side
APLX$54.0M · 0.2% of side
QCML$49.3M · 0.2% of side
LLYX$46.3M · 0.2% of side
MRAL$46.1M · 0.2% of side
VRTL$44.0M · 0.2% of side
CRWL$42.5M · 0.2% of side
NVOX$38.4M · 0.2% of side
LNOK$28.9M · 0.1% of side
SSPC$197.4M · 57.8% of side
TSLS$60.4M · 17.7% of side
NVD$52.9M · 15.5% of side
MUD$30.7M · 9.0% of side
delta_so_direction is a best-effort join to the flows feed (sign of 5-day net creations). null carries a reason (flow-accruing / issuer-unsupported-in-flows / not-in-flows-universe / flows-feed-absent) — never fabricated. Total assets in leveraged/inverse single-stock ETFs, split bullish (long) vs bearish (inverse). A gauge of how much capital sits in single-stock leveraged bets; AUM is price-sensitive, so a rising tape lifts the level even without new creations (read alongside flows). Descriptive context, not a buy/sell signal.

Descriptive cross-sectional rank — not a forced-move prediction.

Read as: A within-complex severity indicator relative to the proxy ETF's own liquidity, and a DIRECTIONAL cross-sector ordering — not a calibrated forced-move or market-impact prediction.

Denominator is a proxy: The denominator is a PROXY, not the venue that absorbs the rebalance. LETF rebalance hedges execute in the underlying basket / index futures / swaps, NOT on the vanilla ETF's tape. Dividing by the vanilla ETF's ADV$ therefore biases the cross-sector RANK by how liquid each proxy ETF happens to be (a thin proxy inflates its complex's rank). A calibrated market-impact denominator would use the underlying basket/futures ADV, which is not wired here.
methodology & literature caveat
Fragility = estimated leveraged-ETF end-of-day rebalance flow per 1% index move, as a share of the underlying vanilla ETF’s ADV — a cross-sectional rank, not an absolute forced-flow forecast. Cross-sector rankings only — not absolute forced-move predictors. Cheng & Madhavan (2009) documented a statistically real EOD rebalancing effect; a 2024 survey of the literature contests its economic significance. This feed is descriptive market-environment context, not a buy/sell signal.
05

What you actually own

Hidden mega-cap / AI-capex concentration
issuer / yfinance · as-of 2026-08-23
Cap-weighting means sheer size — not conviction — sets the weights. The mega-cap AI-capex complex (hyperscalers, AI semiconductors, mega-cap tech) sits atop most funds’ holdings, so a fund’s LABEL — “Consumer Discretionary”, “Communication Services”, “broad market” — can quietly resolve to the same dozen names. Each bar is the share of the fund — % of fund weight — sitting in that complex, counted from the fund’s disclosed top-10 holdings only (a floor on the true exposure).
Carries the AI-capex mega-caps
SMH VanEck Semiconductor ETFNVDA 20.8% · TSM 9.6%
48.0%
XLY State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETFAMZN 25.6% · TSLA 14.7%
40.3%
QQQ Invesco QQQ TrustNVDA 8.0% · MSFT 5.7%
38.8%
XLK State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETFNVDA 13.8% · MSFT 9.8%
36.6%
XLC State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETFMETA 16.6% · GOOGL 11.0%
36.4%
SPY State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustNVDA 7.5% · MSFT 5.4%
27.7%
IGV iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETFMSFT 9.6% · ORCL 5.3%
14.9%
ARKK ARK Innovation ETFTSLA 9.7% · AMD 4.0%
13.7%
DIA State Street SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF TrustMSFT 5.3% · GOOGL 4.0%
9.3%
Genuine diversifiers (<5% of fund weight · top-10 floor)
18 funds at ~0% in the top-10 window — incl. FXI · ITA · IWM
show all 18
FXI iShares China Large-Cap ETF
0.0%
ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF
0.0%
IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF
0.0%
KRE State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF
0.0%
KWEB KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF
0.0%
MSOS AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF
0.0%
TAN Invesco Solar ETF
0.0%
URA Global X Uranium ETF
0.0%
XBI State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF
0.0%
XHB State Street SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF
0.0%
XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF
0.0%
XLE State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF
0.0%
XLF State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF
0.0%
XLI State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF
0.0%
XLP State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF
0.0%
XLRE State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF
0.0%
XLU State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF
0.0%
XLV State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF
0.0%
bond / FX / commodity funds (GLD · HYG · LQD · TLT · UUP) excluded — 0% AI-equity there is a category fact, not a diversification finding.

Look-through = the % of the fund (by weight) sitting in the AI-capex complex, counted from the top-10 disclosed holdings only — a floor (near-complete for the mega-caps, since they ARE the top holdings; positions below the top-10 are not counted). Descriptive: a fund’s own disclosed holdings, not advice.

Glossary — the shorthand this page leans on
contango / backwardation
the VIX term-structure shapes: near-term volatility priced below longer-dated (contango — the usual state) vs above it (backwardation — a stress marker).
ADV
average daily $-volume of a fund's shares — the liquidity yardstick §04's rebalance footprints are measured against.
LETF
leveraged ETF — delivers a daily multiple (2× / 3×, long or inverse) of its index and must rebalance toward the close every session.
RS (relative strength)
a fund's price divided by SPY's, indexed so 100 = the fund's own 1y average — above 100 means stronger than its own baseline, not beating SPY outright.
diffusion
the share of tracked equity names above a moving average — §02's participation gauge.
golden / death cross
the 50-day average crossing above (golden) or below (death) the 200-day — a slow-moving trend-change marker.
percentile windows
every “%ile” on this page ranks today against the stated lookback only (1y unless labelled otherwise), never against all history.
signal strength
a 0–1 engine score for how strongly a §00·5 convergence or tension holds: corroboration breadth (how many legs agree) for convergences, a rule-specific score for tensions (some rules scale with the reading, others assign a fixed weight) — not a probability or confidence interval.
Descriptive market-environment context — not buy/sell signals. No target prices, no recommendations. Signal validation (base-rate / EV / OOS) lives elsewhere in the pipeline.
technical-board
EOD 2026-08-21 · coverage 30/30 · 0 errors
regime
EOD 2026-08-21 · coverage 9/9 · 0 errors
rotation
EOD 2026-08-21 · coverage 21/21 · 0 errors
leverage
EOD 2026-08-21 · coverage 12/12 · 17 errors: single-stock-census·MVLL·AUM not resolved (excluded-divergent) — excluded from froth sum; single-stock-census·CONL·AUM not resolved (excluded-divergent) — excluded from froth sum; single-stock-census·AAOX·AUM not resolved (excluded-divergent) — excluded from froth sum; single-stock-census·SPCH·AUM not resolved (excluded-divergent) — excluded from froth sum; +13 more
flows
EOD 2026-08-24 · coverage 30/30 · 45 errors: proshares-unusable-rows·SQQQ·140 source rows dropped (non-positive/missing NAV or shares) — excluded, not zero-filled; direxion-nav-proxy·DPST·1 snapshot dates lack a close price — rows excluded; direxion-nav-proxy·ERX·1 snapshot dates lack a close price — rows excluded; direxion-nav-proxy·ERY·1 snapshot dates lack a close price — rows excluded; +41 more
breadth
EOD 2026-08-21 · coverage 501/503 · 1 errors: quote·EQR·member missing from quote response (dead/renamed ticker? membership file may be stale)
synthesis
EOD 2026-08-21 · dimensions 8/8 · floor DIRECTIONAL
profiles
as-of 2026-08-23 · 125 funds · unavailable fields listed per-fund
Generated 2026-08-24T21:10:46+00:00 · etf_build_all.py
Sources: Schwab daily OHLCV + instrument marketCap (PRIMARY) with a yfinance fallback (Schwab token dies every 7 days) + CBOE VIX term-structure CSVs; indicators via trading_lab.indicators (repo's own tested functions)
Inspired by the Steve Eisman × Todd Sohn conversation “The Market’s Biggest Warning Signs Right Now” (The Real Eisman Playbook, Ep 66) and the Strategas charts Todd Sohn presented there — the froth census, primary-market flows, and AI-capex look-through lenses on this page follow that conversation. Every measurement is an independent re-derivation from primary sources (Schwab, issuer NAV/SO files, FRED, SEC EDGAR); not affiliated with or endorsed by the podcast, its participants, or Strategas.
This product uses the FRED® API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Credit spreads: ICE BofA option-adjusted spreads, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. ICE BofA US High Yield Index OAS [BAMLH0A0HYM2] and ICE BofA BBB US Corporate Index OAS [BAMLC0A4CBBB]. Copyright, 2023, ICE Data Indices. Reproduction of this data in any form is prohibited except with the prior written permission of ICE Data Indices. Data provided “as is” for informational purposes; not investment advice.
© 2026 Anthony Calek · happycode.ch. All rights reserved. Original research & presentation — do not republish without permission. Personal research, not investment advice.