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You know that feeling when you walk into a room and everyone stops talking?

That's exactly what happened in the market today. And most traders are still standing there wondering what they missed.

Everyone was glued to the jobs number today.

Yet, something far more dangerous just unfolded. 

We hit both the upper and lower edges of our expected move in a single week.

Now you might be thinking, "Big deal, Don. So what?"

Well…This almost never happens. 

I had to dig back nine months to find the last three times we saw this pattern. 

And guess what? All three occurred right before some of the most violent moves in recent market history.

Plus, we're doing this in a 15 VIX environment. That kind of movement shouldn't be possible when volatility is supposedly "dead."

But it gets better.

We started the week at 6460 and closed at 6481. Basically unchanged. Yet underneath that boring surface, we had a 90-point reversal today alone. We exploded to 6530 this morning, then crashed right back to my key 6450 level.

Here's what really has me concerned:

The jobs number was hot garbage. 22,000 versus 75,000 expected. They revised June to negative 13,000. First job losses since 2020.

Market initially loved it because "yay, Fed cuts are locked in." Then reality showed up fashionably late to the party.

Energy got absolutely crushed. Down 2% when options were only pricing 1%. Financials got hammered right to their expected move lows. Microsoft (MSFT) cracked below 500.

The only reason this looks like a nothing day? Two stocks. Broadcom (AVGO) mooned 10% on AI news. Tesla (TSLA) rallied on Musk's trillion-dollar compensation package.

Strip those out and today was ugly. Really ugly.

The advance-decline line shows 50-50, but that's like having a false sense of security right before the floor gives way. When mega-cap tech starts selling off 1.5% to 2%, it's going to snap that line in half.

Here's my favorite part. Next week's expected move is only $85. After we just witnessed a rare volatility event that historically precedes major moves, the market thinks we're going back to sleepy time.

Wrong.

If we break 6450 early next week, we're going straight to 6250. And that break is looking more likely by the hour.

Video Length: 00:21:38

September volatility is coming whether you're ready or not.

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