Leverage finally snapped
Too many traders were stacked in high-leverage positions. A small pullback triggered margin calls, forced selling, and a rapid chain of liquidations.
Profit-taking after an extreme run
Gold and silver had gone parabolic over the last two years. After gains like that, a lot of investors simply locked in profits.
Tech weakness spilled over
Microsoft slid sharply after softer cloud and AI guidance, and a downgrade from Morgan Stanley added pressure. That move weighed on the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.
Metals were stretched
Gold and silver were deeply overbought by every major metric. The market needed a reset, and it came fast.
No single trigger event
There wasn’t a shock headline or policy change. This was positioning unwinding all at once, not a new macro shift.