Chart of the Week

Margin Debt plunged downward in October by $40 billion - the largest one-month decline since the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008. When margin debt starts to unwind decisively, bear market risk increases when stocks bought on margin are sold, and speculators are less willing to borrow money to buy stocks. Hence, this new development is worrisome, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on this data over the coming months.