Window For Stock Pullback May Close Without More Fireworks

Why were US equities able to pull back? Put differently: Why was the door open to a drawdown following a prolonged period of range compression into the grinding summer melt-up? Well, dealers' short gamma positioning was a factor, and when you fold in VIXpery and OpEx, the conditions were in place for a downdraft aided and abetted by so-called "accelerant flows" from dealer hedging (which exacerbated directional price action) and systematic strat deleveraging. According to Nomura's Charlie McEl