Readings — 6 September 2026
MACRO — THE ECONOMY
The Interest Bill: FYTD gross interest jumped to $1.27T (31 Aug print, up from $1.17T); the debt itself eased to $40.10T (3 Sep), down from the last edition’s $40.18T (31 Aug) — a genuine dip, not a typo; not independently explained here. [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 rose to $4,394/oz (was $4,338); the dollar’s 1971 gold value eased to 0.80% (was 0.81%). [Confirmed]
Red Ink Rising: unchanged — FY2025 net interest $970.1B, 13.84% of the federal budget.
The Wiggle Room: unchanged — FY2025 reading holds at 1.9¢ left of every revenue dollar; CBO’s FY2036 baseline still projects −10¢. [Confirmed]
US Treasury Dashboard: unchanged since the last edition — still dated 17 Aug (yields) and 14 Aug (dollar index, federal debt $39.93T). Now three weeks 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 further to $26.63T (from $27.15T) even as NVIDIA itself rose to $5.55T (from $5.05T) — the total fell while its largest constituent gained. [Confirmed]
Cape Fear / Mathematical Scenarios: unchanged at CAPE 42.18 (Jul 2026 print), fifth edition running. [Confirmed unchanged]
The High Water Mark / Leg by Leg: eased to 204 companies tracked (from 205), averaging 74.1% of their recorded highs (from 75.5%). Allianz SE still closest to its high, at 101.2%. [Confirmed]
The Debt Garden: unchanged at $29.7B; Ares Capital still largest at $14.4B. [Confirmed unchanged]
DEMOS — THE PEOPLE
The Mood of the Crowd: unchanged — US 51.7 (Aug 2026 final, 1st percentile), UK −17.0 (Jun 2026, 24th percentile). [Confirmed unchanged]
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: US midterms now 57 days out (from 62), still 3 Nov 2026. The nearest rate decision has rolled from the Fed to the ECB — now 3 days out (10 Sep), with the FOMC dot-plot at 9 days, BoE MPC at 10, BoJ at 11. [Confirmed]
The Long Fuse: no live feed, nothing to update.
The Gold Hole: moved to $52.30bn (from $51.6bn) — a ×16.0 multiple on the average sale price (was ×15.8); CAGR since the sale unchanged at 11.6% p.a. [Confirmed]
FLOWS — THE CAPITAL
Net Liquidity Tracker: unchanged — still $5.80T (12 Aug), the lag now running close to four 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, now three-plus weeks behind. [Confirmed, Inferred still lagging]