Dominic Feron

← All market reports

State of the Market

Report date: August 17, 2026Data through: August 14, 2026

Strong uptrend
Near record highs · Broad participation · Firm risk appetite
Trend
100%
Price position and direction of the 20-, 50- and 200-day averages.
All-time high
-0.2%
Last reached 1 trading day ago, on August 13, 2026.
Volatility
13.3%
Typical · Little changed
Unfilled gaps
1 below · 0 above
1 persistent
Risk appetite trend
81%
Three-pillar composite.
Market breadth
70%
Strong · Above 52-week average · Rising

Moving averages

MetricValuePrice vs. averageAverage direction, 5 days
MA20 $756.20 Above (+2.7%) Rising (+0.8%)
MA50 $748.55 Above (+3.7%) Rising (+0.3%)
MA200 $702.76 Above (+10.5%) Rising (+0.4%)

Realized volatility

Current13.3% annualized
Long-term contextTypical — it was higher in 49% of prior 21-day periods.
Change over 5 daysLittle changed (-0.4 percentage points)

65-session return profile

PeriodMedian return
Market hours+0.06%
Outside market hours+0.13%
Weekend and holiday gap+0.51%
SessionMedian return
Monday+0.12%
Tuesday+0.14%
Wednesday-0.13%
Thursday+0.46%
Friday+0.18%

Open gaps

Persistent unfilled gaps can signal sustained one-sided movement during the period in which they formed. If the market later reverses toward a nearby gap, traders often watch the gap zone as a potential reference or target area. A gap is not guaranteed to be filled and should not be treated as a standalone forecast.

DateLocationGap zoneWidthDistanceAge (sessions)
2026-08-04 Below market $758.58–$760.52 0.26% 2.04% 8 · Persistent

Risk appetite

Higher ratios favor the risk-on side of each pair. Every pair uses the same six signals: price position and five-session direction for its 20-, 50- and 200-day moving averages.

Three-pillar composite

PillarTrend
Equity cyclicality58%
Equity factor appetite83%
Credit appetite100%

Pair trend matrix

SignalTrendMA20MA50MA200
Consumer cyclicalityXLY/XLP 33% Above (+1.2%)
Rising (+0.2%)
Below or at (-0.0%)
Falling or flat (-0.4%)
Below or at (-4.0%)
Falling or flat (-0.2%)
Technology vs. utilitiesXLK/XLU 83% Above (+5.5%)
Rising (+2.2%)
Above (+5.0%)
Falling or flat (-0.3%)
Above (+20.8%)
Rising (+0.7%)
High beta appetiteSPHB/SPLV 83% Above (+4.9%)
Rising (+0.9%)
Above (+1.6%)
Falling or flat (-0.7%)
Above (+12.7%)
Rising (+0.5%)
Credit appetiteHYG/IEI 100% Above (+0.3%)
Rising (+0.1%)
Above (+0.5%)
Rising (+0.1%)
Above (+1.9%)
Rising (+0.1%)

Market breadth

Current70.0% (350 of 500)
Weekly change+3.8 percentage points
52-week average55.8% · Above 52-week average

Breadth thrusts — past year

Every two-week move of at least 150 stocks, in either direction, is listed. Consecutive qualifying readings remain separate because their frequency can also describe the market environment.

DateBreadthTwo-week change
2026-04-19 60.6% +30.0 pts
2026-03-15 32.2% -30.8 pts