US Equity Fear Gauge Tops 2008 Crisis Levels as Short Interest Hits Multi-Year Highs

Retail fear across US equity markets has reached levels not seen in over two decades. The ROBO Put/Call Ratio has jumped to 1.0 for the first time in at least 20 years. The reading exceeds the 0.91 peak during the 2008 Financial Crisis and the 0.95 reached during the 2020 pandemic selloff. The ratio