The Iron Butterfly Takes Flight

Not many people appreciate the breadth and depth of Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean. Her cultivated persona as blonde bombshell country hick was the cover for the most successful woman in country music with record sales beyond 100 million and more than 3,000 songs in her publishing catalog. Add on her TV and movie career, Dollywood, monumental philanthropy and business acumen that gave her the industry insider nickname, the Iron Butterfly. Truly one-of-a-kind. She will be missed as she returns one last time to her Tennessee Mountain Home.

Meanwhile, we’ll keep it simple. Inflation came in a little hot this morning as we await Nvidia earnings after the close. Then we get Fed Chair Kevin Warsh from Jackson Hole on Friday morning. My friends at Tier 1 Alpha see markets “broadly neutral” right now. Maybe that will change.

The VIX Mix recouped five points yesterday to climb back toward the bullish end of our gauge. 11 of 17 components are in the green with only three on the bearish end.

The broader look remains cautious with the last four days in Neutral and the 10-day moving average pointing down.

Pairing the action for SPX with our ratio of VIXM:VIXY shows an effort by the stock index to gather itself just above the 21-day exponential moving average while our snapshot of action in the VIX futures term structure remains supportive of risk-on positioning. Just note that the bottom two panes show that bullishness receding a bit.

Nothing on the dashboard is raising alarm bells. The end of summer is around the corner. Mid-term elections are approaching. The Middle East is still hot. Steady as she goes. Eyes wide open. Keep your game plan up to date.

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