Readings — 25 August 2026

MACRO — THE ECONOMY

The Interest Bill: FYTD gross interest holds at $1.17T (31 Jul print, unchanged); the debt itself crossed $40 trillion for the first time, now $40.03T (21 Aug), up from $39.89T (7 Aug). [Confirmed]

Manic Mr Market: unchanged at 218.1% (2026 Q1), still Significantly Overvalued — no new quarter posted yet. [Confirmed unchanged]

The Melting Anchor: live gold spot $4,636/oz; the dollar’s 1971 gold value down to 0.75% (was 0.80%). [Confirmed]

Red Ink Rising: unchanged — FY2025 net interest $970.1B, 13.84% of the federal budget; annual series, next refresh at the CBO’s ~Feb/Jun baseline.

The Wiggle Room: first Readings appearance. FY2025 reading is 1.9¢ left of every revenue dollar after mandatory spending and net interest; CBO’s FY2036 baseline projects −10¢. Static annual series, no live feed. [Confirmed]

The Snowball: first Readings appearance. FY2025 net interest was 54.7% of that year’s whole deficit, up from 13% in FY2009; net interest has nearly tripled (2.8×) since FY2021. Static annual series, no live feed. [Confirmed]

US Treasury Dashboard: refreshed — federal debt outstanding $39.93T (14 Aug, was $39.77T), 10-year 4.72% / 30-year 5.31% (17 Aug), curve not inverted. Not yet reconciled with the Interest Bill’s own later, higher figure above. [Confirmed]

MICRO — THE STOCKS

Utopia’s Eleven: combined empire eased to $27.26T (from $28.03T at the 9 Aug edition — the last confirmed reading; last week’s edition went unreverified). NVIDIA still leads at $5.12T (was $5.32T); Apple second at $4.52T. Banquo’s Ghost widened to $3.24T shed from ATHs (was $2.38T). [Confirmed]

Cape Fear / Mathematical Scenarios: unchanged at CAPE 42.18 (Jul 2026 print), third edition running. [Confirmed unchanged]

The High Water Mark / Leg by Leg: roster has grown sharply to 205 companies tracked (from 78 at the 9 Aug edition), averaging 75.5% of their recorded highs (from 82.3% — a broader roster, not a broad decline in the original cohort). Allianz SE is now closest to its high, at 101.2%. [Confirmed]

The Debt Garden: eased slightly to $29.5B (from $29.9B); Ares Capital still largest at $14.3B. [Confirmed]

DEMOS — THE PEOPLE

The Mood of the Crowd: US reading holds at 55.2 (Jul 2026, 2nd percentile); August’s preliminary flash print stays at 51.0, still not folded into the confirmed figure. UK confidence unchanged at −17.0 (Jun 2026, 24th percentile). [Confirmed]

The Camel’s Back: unchanged at 155 — illustrative scaffolding, no live feed, nothing to update.

Hot or Not: unchanged — still 35% approval, latest read 8 Jun 2026 — no live feed, nothing to update.

POLIS — THE STATE

The Watchtower: now carries the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium live, 3 days out (28 Aug, Chair Warsh’s keynote) — proposed but not yet added at the last edition. US midterms 70 days out (from 84); the FOMC dot-plot 22 days out (from 36); UK general election drifts to ~2.9 years out. [Confirmed/Inferred as tagged on-site]

The Long Fuse: no live feed, nothing to update.

FLOWS — THE CAPITAL

Net Liquidity Tracker: moved for the first time in five editions — $5.80T (12 Aug), down from the $5.92T reading frozen since 22–24 Jul. The refresh fault flagged in the last edition appears to be easing, though the reading still runs roughly two weeks behind today’s date. [Confirmed, Inferred still lagging]

The Tide Table: unchanged — same year-end-2025 dataset. [Confirmed]

Mind the Gap: refreshed to ¥159.21 (was ¥162.43), spread narrowed to 1.81pp (was 1.84pp). [Confirmed]