MarketPR
The pace of leverage growth tracked by FINRA has decelerated, matching a pattern observed at the market peaks of 2000, 2007, and 2021.
That three-instance sequence is the signal in focus for anyone reading the current tape against prior cycle turns. FINRA collects and publishes margin and leverage data across brokerage accounts.
A deceleration in the pace of that leverage growth, rather than a reduction in the outstanding level, is the specific signature the record shows before each of those three prior peaks resolved.
Consensus tends to anchor to continuation in late-cycle setups; the FINRA pattern cuts against that default.
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