According to @KobeissiLetter, the cost of hedging a 10% drop in the Nasdaq 100 ETF QQQ relative to bullish bets has risen to its highest level since the 2022 bear market, with relative hedging costs up about 40% over the last five months and current downside protection pricing higher than in 92% of recent cases, indicating elevated demand for puts and downside insurance (source: @KobeissiLetter). The post adds that investors are actively adding hedges to protect long equity exposure and that growing caution is tied to the September Federal Reserve meeting next week, with market focus centered on the policy decision and guidance (source: @KobeissiLetter). For crypto markets, episodes of equity risk-off have coincided with stronger equity-crypto co-movement, with Bitcoin’s correlation to stocks rising notably in 2022, which frames potential spillover risk for BTC and ETH around major Fed events (source: International Monetary Fund, Global Financial Stability Note, January 2022).

According to @KobeissiLetter, the top 1% of U.S. households own 51% of equities and the top 10% own 87%, highlighting an accelerating concentration trend that affects market dynamics. According to the Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts, ownership of corporate equities and mutual fund shares is overwhelmingly concentrated in the highest wealth percentiles, corroborating the structural skew in equity exposure. According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, periods of mega-cap leadership see the cap-weighted S&P 500 materially outperform the equal-weight version, increasing index-level sensitivity to flows in the largest names favored by wealthier cohorts. According to IMF research, BTC’s correlation with U.S. equities rose significantly after 2020, implying that equity de-risking by large holders can transmit pressure to BTC and ETH during risk-off episodes. According to @KobeissiLetter, traders should position accordingly as concentration trends evolve.