Wednesday, 20 May 2026

The 1973–74 market crash

from conversation about lessons learned

The 1973–74 market crash remains one of the most sobering chapters in financial history because it shattered the “60/40” illusion. As you correctly noted, when inflation is the primary driver of a bear market, the traditional inverse correlation between stocks and bonds tends to break down. Both assets get “re-rated” lower simultaneously.

The 1973–74 Anatomy: A Multi-Front War

The S&P 500’s decline wasn’t just a valuation correction; it was a fundamental shift in the global economic order. Several factors converged that mirror some of today’s anxieties:

  • The Oil Embargo: Energy prices quadrupled, creating a massive supply-side shock.

  • Monetary Transition: The final collapse of the Bretton Woods system led to currency volatility.

  • Sticky Inflation: CPI peaked at 12.3% in late 1974, rendering fixed-income yields negative in real terms.


The Winners: “Crisis Alpha” Strategies

The strategies that thrived during this window—and during the subsequent “Lost Decade” for stocks—are often categorized today as Managed Futures or Global Macro.

1. Trend Following (CTA)

In 1973, systems that followed price trends didn’t care about “value.” As oil moved up and equities moved down, these systems captured the momentum in both directions. By going short on sagging indices and long on soaring commodities, they provided what we call Crisis Alpha.

2. Hard Assets and Commodities

With the dollar in flux and paper assets losing purchasing power, “stuff” became the ultimate hedge. Gold, which had recently been decoupled from the dollar, and industrial commodities served as the only reliable stores of value.

3. Currency Diversification

As the U.S. struggled with stagflation, holding non-dollar denominations allowed investors to sidestep the domestic erosion of wealth.


Modern Portfolio Construction: Are We Prepared?

If you look at a standard modern brokerage portfolio, these elements are often missing. Most retail and even institutional portfolios are “long-only,” meaning they rely entirely on asset prices going up to generate returns.

To replicate the resilience of the 1973 winners, a portfolio today might include:

StrategyModern ImplementationRole in PortfolioTrend FollowingManaged Futures ETFs/FundsProfit from sustained moves down (Shorts) or up.CommoditiesBroad Commodity Indices (DBA, GSG)Hedge against “cost-push” inflation and supply shocks.Real AssetsTIPS, Gold, InfrastructureMaintain purchasing power when currency devalues.

The Reality Check

The challenge today is path dependency. In 1973, the Fed eventually had to “break” the economy to kill inflation. Today, the Fed faces a similar dilemma: fight inflation at the risk of a hard landing, or ease to support the banking system and risk a second wave of price increases.

The strategies that worked then are the ultimate “insurance policies.” They are often boring or even drags on performance during bull markets, but in a 1973-style regime, they transition from “optional” to “essential.”

Given the parallels you see in energy risks and Fed indecision, are you looking to pivot toward more “convex” protections, or are you more concerned with the opportunity cost of exiting equities too early?

Sunday, 10 May 2026

Conditions & Triggers — Market Regime & Execution Brief

Clear conditions. Defined triggers. Disciplined execution.

When to act. When to wait.
No signal — no trade.


The Framework

The AI thesis held.
The labor market refused to break.

Both are true. They compound the constraint.

The system does not resolve contradictions through prediction.
It resolves them through sizing.

Markets rarely wait for visible resolution. Leadership often emerges while uncertainty still dominates headlines.


Monday Filter

Regime 1 confirmed.

AI infrastructure leadership intact.
Labor resilience confirmed.
Core PCE remains elevated.
The Fed remains constrained.

  • AVGO position active

  • NVDA EMA trigger executed

  • ARM consolidating near highs

  • INTC extended — still no clean structure

Size conservatively.

No position should be sized as if aggressive rate cuts are available.


This Week’s Priority

  • AVGO financing resolution

  • CPI Wednesday

  • Iran negotiation status

  • Breadth confirmation after new highs

If these fail to confirm → activity decreases.


Regime Snapshot

Regime 1 — Bull Confirmed

Deployment active.

  • Score: 95 / 100

  • Cash: 0–20%

  • Deployment: Selective

  • Signal: Pullbacks only. No chasing extensions.

Inflation does not break the regime.
It limits upside in rate-sensitive names.


Core Principle

The game is won or lost in opportunity selection first.
Execution refinement comes second.

Trade where capital is compounding.
Leave when it leaves.


Sector Rotation Dashboard

Active Compounders

Semiconductors / AI Infrastructure
→ Capex-backed demand

Industrials
→ Reshoring + capital spending

Energy (conditional)
→ Geopolitical premium, not structural growth

Losing Leadership

  • Defensives

  • Regional Banks

  • Rate-sensitive consumer names

Flow Check

Capital remains concentrated in AI + cyclicals.

Breadth still confirms price.

Russell participation prevents this from becoming a narrow mega-cap advance — for now.

Exit Signals

RS vs SPY breaks 50-day

AND

Price loses 20-day

→ Rotation confirmed → Reallocate

Directive

Focus on the strongest 3–5 groups only.

Sequence matters.
Capital is deployed step by step.


Regime Score Delta

Six-week progression:

75 → 81 → 88 → 96 → 94 → 95

+4 — S&P, Nasdaq, and Russell near record highs
+3 — AI infrastructure leadership intact
+2 — NFP resilience confirms economic durability

–4 — Core PCE + labor resilience reinforce “higher for longer”
–2 — Iran conflict unresolved + oil elevated

Net: +1 → Score 95

The structure held.
The constraint hardened.

Both are true.


In Brief

Markets broke to new highs before the crisis resolved.

Again.

That happened during COVID.
It happened during the tariff war.
It is happening again during the Iran conflict.

Markets are discounting mechanisms.

The strongest stocks are often the ones that never truly broke during uncertainty itself.

That matters now.

AI infrastructure continues behaving like institutional accumulation — not speculative excess.

Semiconductor leadership remains intact.
Breadth remains constructive.

Then Friday’s data printed.

Labor crushed expectations.

The labor market is not breaking.

The Fed is effectively locked at current policy levels until inflation materially improves.

Price held structure anyway.

That matters more than opinion.


Geopolitics — What Changed

Iran submitted a 14-point response framework through intermediaries.

The ceasefire structure remains fragile.

Hormuz restrictions continue disrupting shipping flows.

No full escalation yet.
No real resolution either.

Oil remains elevated near ~$95–100.

Nothing here breaks the regime.

It increases the probability of regime disruption.

The variable remains unchanged:

Resolution or escalation.

Price will move first.

Wait for it.


The Week in Five Minutes

Sunday

Check Iran developments first.

Check AVGO premarket reaction to financing headlines.

Monday–Thursday

Post-FOMC consolidation.

Leadership drifted into trigger zones.

Wednesday

Iran optimism triggered a strong risk-on move.

Oil collapsed intraday.

S&P and Nasdaq made fresh highs.

Semiconductors led aggressively.

Friday

Labor data confirmed resilience.

Unemployment held steady.

Markets absorbed the “higher for longer” implication.

S&P closed at record highs.
Nasdaq closed at record highs.

Breadth held.

Leadership

  • AVGO → position active

  • NVDA → EMA trigger executed cleanly

  • ARM → continuation structure intact

  • INTC → strength without structure, still no entry


Your Numbers

Equities

  • S&P 500: 7,398.93

  • Nasdaq: 26,247.08

  • Dow: 49,609.16

  • Russell 2000: 2,861.21

  • VIX: 17.19

Macro

  • WTI: ~$95

  • Gold: ~$4,730

  • 10Y: ~4.28–4.45%

  • DXY: weakening

Labor

  • NFP April: +115,000

  • Unemployment: 4.3%

  • Consensus: ~55–65k


Your Checklist

Score: 5 / 5 — Deployment Permitted

☑ Structure
☑ Breadth
☑ Volatility
☑ Leadership
☑ Intermarket


Constraints (Not Gates)

NFP resilience + elevated Core PCE

→ Caps aggressive multiple expansion
→ Half-size on rate-sensitive trades

Hormuz risk remains binary override risk.

None are triggers.
All influence sizing.


Hidden Signal Watch

AVGO Financing Headline (Debt Issuance vs. Equity Dilution)

Most important stock-specific variable currently on the board.

If resolved → thesis intact

If structurally impaired → reassess immediately

Iran

The market continues discounting resolution faster than headlines justify.

If escalation resumes materially, oil and volatility will reprice quickly.

IWM / SPY

If small caps diverge while AI leadership narrows → caution increases.


Momentum Scan

No trigger — no trade.

All triggers are confirmation signals.
Not forecasts.

AVGO — Hold

Position active.

Key variable: financing headline.

Stop: $399

No averaging down.

NVDA — Hold

EMA reclaim executed cleanly.

Now a free trade.

Stop: Below 20 EMA (~$201.60)

Do not trail above the EMA until the EMA catches up to price.

Do not allow loss of breakout structure.

Strong volume expansion confirmed institutional participation.

ARM — First Entry Watch

One of the strongest relative-strength structures in the market.

Never truly broke during volatility.

Watching controlled consolidation near highs.

Trigger:
Breakout confirmation with volume expansion.

INTC — No Entry

Strength without structure is not an entry.

Watch:

→ Controlled 3-day base

OR

→ Pullback into structure

No chase entries.

MXL — Watch Only

Criteria unchanged:

  • 5-day hold

  • Volume contraction

  • New base

  • RSI cooling


Turnaround V5 — Relative Strength Recovery Logic

The strongest recoveries are rarely led by the stocks that collapsed the most.

They are usually led by stocks that:

  • refused to break

  • consolidated near highs

  • outperformed while uncertainty dominated headlines

That is the focus now.

ALGM — Hold / Watch

Relative strength improving.

Squeeze structure intact above $55.

Stop unchanged.

FICO — Hold Half

Rates remain the constraint.

No add until inflation path improves materially.

Reassess after CPI.


What Would Change My Mind

  • Iran escalation

  • Structural oil shock

  • CPI acceleration

  • Breadth deterioration while mega caps hold

  • VIX sustained above 25

None active.
All monitored.


Number of the Week

115,000

April NFP.

More than double consensus.

The labor market is not breaking.

The Fed remains constrained.

The market absorbed it.

For now.


Event Calendar

Sunday

  • Check Iran developments

  • Check AVGO financing follow-through

Wednesday — CPI

Most important macro event of the week.

Hot CPI
→ Rate pressure intensifies

Cool CPI
→ Breadth expansion possible

Do not trade the number.

Wait for price.


The Full Picture

AI demand is real.

Inflation pressure is real.

Economic resilience is real.

They conflict.

Markets are pricing all three simultaneously.

Unevenly.

The system does not resolve the conflict through narrative.

It expresses the conflict through:

  • sizing

  • structure

  • trigger quality

Full Size

AI infrastructure leaders with confirmed structure

Half Size

Rate-sensitive exposure

No Size

Extended names without structure

A missed trade is not an error.

A bad entry is.


The Big Picture

Stage 2 confirmed.

Leadership remains intact.

Breadth still confirms.

The strongest names never truly broke during uncertainty.

That is the tell.

Three things matter this week:

  • CPI Wednesday

  • Iran direction

  • Breadth durability after record highs

The plan remains conditional.

If unclear — no trade.


Execution Checklist

Regime: 95 — Active

Week Card

CPI hot
→ Reduce rate-sensitive exposure

CPI cool
→ Leadership continuation possible

Iran escalation
→ Cash increases aggressively

  • Check AVGO structure first

  • Manage NVDA

  • Watch ARM

  • No INTC chase

  • ALGM conditional

  • FICO half-size only

  • No correlation stacking across AI names

Unclear condition → no trade.


System Rules

  • Stops fixed at entry

  • 0.5% risk target

  • No size stacking

  • Price > thesis

  • No headline trades

The system does not anticipate.

It reacts.


System Anchor

We are not buying what is cheap.

We are buying what has stopped going down first

—or what is breaking out cleanly with structure.

Conditions define.

Triggers act.

One setup at a time.

One decision at a time.


Disclaimer

This is for informational and educational purposes only.

Tuesday, 5 May 2026

 

Why Most Trading Systems Fail in Execution, Not Design

Most trading systems don’t fail because the edge is wrong.
They fail because the edge is not executed.

A system on paper is a set of rules with positive expectancy.
A system in reality is rules + behavior under uncertainty.
Only the second one produces results.


The Three Conditions

For any system to work, three conditions must hold:

  1. The rules define an edge

  2. The rules are executed as written

  3. Costs don’t erase the edge

Most failure comes from the second condition.


Execution Is a Chain, Not a Moment

Execution is not one decision. It is a sequence:

  • Take the signal

  • Size correctly

  • Hold through noise

  • Exit on rule

Each step is a failure point. Small deviations are enough to invalidate the system.

Skip trades, delay entries, cut winners early, hold losers longer, change size—
you are no longer running the tested system. You are running an untested variant.


The Real Problem

Most traders believe they follow a system.
They don’t.

They modify it in real time.

The changes are subtle and feel justified:

  • “This one looks extended” → skipped trade

  • “I’ll secure something” → early exit

  • “Next one should work” → size increase

  • “Something feels off” → hesitation

Individually reasonable. Collectively destructive.


Why This Happens

  • Uncertainty: Even valid systems lose often. Losses trigger interference.

  • Short feedback loops: Behavior reacts to recent trades, not large samples.

  • Ambiguous rules: Vague systems require interpretation; interpretation shifts under stress.

  • Market friction: Slippage and spreads reduce tolerance for execution error.


The Consequence

A sound design produces poor results because it is not delivered consistently.


The Fix Is Structural

This is not a discipline problem. It is a design problem.

  • If a rule cannot be followed exactly, it is not a rule.

  • If a decision is made during the trade, it is not part of the system.

  • If behavior changes after a few trades, the process is incomplete.

Execution must be built into the system:

  • Define rules in binary terms

  • Predefine size and exits

  • Remove discretion during the trade

  • Evaluate over a meaningful sample


The Objective

Run the same system every time.

Anything else is variation.
Variation destroys expectancy.


Final Point

Most systems don’t fail in design.
They fail because they are not executed as designed.