Markets Weekly Notes
Mar 2 – Mar 8 · 2026-W10
2 events this week
🏛️ Quiet compliance week Compliance
📉 Oil crisis week 2 Markets
⚡ Workflow engineering week Data Engineering
🧠 Feynman Takeaway
Oil continued to spike. Reg NMS data revealed record equity market fragmentation. The macro picture darkened.
Oil Continues Spike, Markets Adjust
In plain English
Brent held above $100. Markets started repricing for 'higher for longer' inflation. Energy stocks soared. Tech and discretionary stocks sold off as input cost fears mounted. The first hints of sector rotation appeared.
Analogy
When oil stays above $100 for two weeks, it's not a spike anymore — it's a new reality. Markets started behaving accordingly.
Why it matters
The sector rotation that would define mid-2026 HRU? Small caps +22%, energy up, tech down — it all started here.
Record Equity Market Fragmentation
In plain English
SEC staff data showed off-exchange trading volumes at 51.9% (Nasdaq stocks) and 47% (NYSE stocks) — all-time highs. The SEC's Reg NMS rescission proposal was partially motivated by this fragmentation.
Analogy
Imagine a town where half the shopping happens outside the main marketplace. That's US equities — over half of all trades now happen in dark pools, internalizers, and off-exchange venues. The 'stock market' isn't one market anymore.
Why it matters
This data point set the stage for the June Reg NMS rescission proposal — the most consequential equity market structure debate since 2005.