Readings — 30 August 2026
MACRO — THE ECONOMY
The Interest Bill: FYTD gross interest holds at $1.17T (31 Jul print, unchanged); the debt itself moved to $40.18T (31 Aug), up from $40.03T (21 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 eased to $4,338/oz (was $4,636); the dollar’s 1971 gold value rose to 0.81% (was 0.75%). [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: unchanged — FY2025 reading holds at 1.9¢ left of every revenue dollar; CBO’s FY2036 baseline still projects −10¢. Static annual series, no live feed. [Confirmed]
The Snowball: unchanged — FY2025 net interest still 54.7% of that year’s whole deficit; net interest still 2.8× since FY2021. Static annual series, no live feed. [Confirmed]
US Treasury Dashboard: unchanged since the last edition — still dated 17 Aug (yields) and 14 Aug (dollar index, federal debt $39.93T). Now further behind The Interest Bill’s own debt figure above (still not reconciled) — due a manual refresh. [Confirmed, stale]
MICRO — THE STOCKS
Utopia’s Eleven: combined empire eased to $27.15T (from $27.26T). NVIDIA still leads at $5.05T (was $5.12T). [Confirmed]
Cape Fear / Mathematical Scenarios: unchanged at CAPE 42.18 (Jul 2026 print), fourth edition running. [Confirmed unchanged]
The High Water Mark / Leg by Leg: unchanged — 205 companies tracked, averaging 75.5% of their recorded highs. Allianz SE still closest to its high, at 101.2%. [Confirmed]
The Debt Garden: edged up to $29.7B (from $29.5B); Ares Capital still largest at $14.4B (was $14.3B). [Confirmed]
DEMOS — THE PEOPLE
The Mood of the Crowd: US reading moved for the first time in three editions — August’s final UMich print landed at 51.7 (1st percentile), confirming rather than reversing the preliminary flash crash to 51.0 flagged last edition; down from July’s 55.2 (2nd percentile). 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: Jackson Hole has now passed and dropped off the board; the FOMC dot-plot sits 14 days out (16 Sep, from 22), US midterms 62 days out (from 70), UK general election still drifts to ~2.9 years out. [Confirmed/Inferred as tagged on-site]
The Long Fuse: no live feed, nothing to update.
The Gold Hole: first Readings appearance, live 27 Aug 2026. Gold Hole Index (opportunity cost of the UK’s 1999–2002 gold sale, at today’s price) stands at $51.6bn — a ×15.8 multiple on the average sale price, 11.6% p.a. gold CAGR since the sale’s 2001 midpoint. [Confirmed]
FLOWS — THE CAPITAL
Net Liquidity Tracker: unchanged — still $5.80T (12 Aug), the lag flagged last edition now running closer to three weeks behind today’s date. [Confirmed, Inferred still lagging]
The Tide Table: unchanged — same year-end-2025 dataset. [Confirmed]
Mind the Gap: unchanged — ¥159.21, spread 1.81pp, same dated readings as the last edition. [Confirmed]