The 🇯🇵 Japanese yen devaluation is very similar to what happened in 1992 Britain 🇬🇧
They tried saving the British pound by selling foreign assets & buying pounds. It failed
Out of desperation they rapidly raised interest rates, which signaled panic. BoJ is in the same situation https://t.co/Vp3iBozOhL pic.twitter.com/eWSEwXrWB5
— Financelot (@FinanceLancelot) August 17, 2026
The $VIX just closed at its lowest level of the year, with options pricing daily S&P 500 swings under 0.8% for the rest of the month. If we fall below the gamma flip line dealers are short gamma, forced to sell into every dip and buy into every rip, which turns a small shock into a large one.
Two catalysts sit dead ahead,
$NVDA
earnings and Jackson Hole. Volatility is the cheapest it has been all year, right into the two events most likely to break the calm. That is when hedges are a steal and complacency gets expensive.
The stock market looks dead calm. Underneath looks like a coiled spring.
The $VIX just closed at its lowest level of the year, with options pricing daily S&P 500 swings under 0.8% for the rest of the month. If we fall below the gamma flip line dealers are short gamma, forced to… pic.twitter.com/9Ed9uO1qIb
— Kurt S. Altrichter, CRPS® (@kurtsaltrichter) August 16, 2026
US savings are nearing a record low
byu/RobertBartus inEconomyCharts