The board carries a Friday 2026-08-28 settled close, and the headline is a split tape: the broad benchmarks mostly firmed or held steady on RSI this week while small caps diverged hard (IWM's RSI fell 7.3 points and its trend flag flipped to weak-down), and gold posted the sharpest reversal on the entire board (RSI 71.2 to 54.6, -16.6) after last cycle's overbought extension. Every long-horizon check still points up across the broad indices and most sectors — all five benchmarks and eight of eleven sectors sit above their 200-day with double-digit 1-year gains — while Utilities, the bond complex, FXI, and housing remain the board's genuine standing weak spots. All 42 names in this dashboard carry a fresh 2026-08-28 close (market-pulse) — no staleness caveat.

LONG-HORIZON READ: this dashboard applies the desk's binding rule — a name whose short-window trend flag reads "down" but sits ABOVE its 200-day with a positive 1-year change is called a deep pullback in an intact trend, never a breakdown. Only a name trading BELOW its 200-day with a weak or negative year is called genuinely broken.

The broad tape's dominant move this week is a divergence rather than a uniform trend. SPY's RSI ticked up from 54.2 to 56.6, QQQ from 50.1 to 51.9, DIA from 52.3 to 55.3, and VTI from 54.2 to 55.3 — all four steadying or firming off last cycle's pullback. IWM is the one clear exception: its RSI fell from 52.6 to 45.3 (-7.3) and its trend flag flipped from strong-up to weak-down. But every one of the five broad indices remains comfortably above its 200-day (SPY +8.4%, QQQ +9.3%, DIA +7.6%, IWM +9.0%, VTI +8.4%) with double-digit 1-year gains — IWM's own +26.20% is the best of the group — so even its rough week reads as a deep pullback inside an intact trend, not a breakdown.

Sector rotation shows a similar cooldown-from-extension pattern. Energy (XLE) and Healthcare (XLV), last cycle's clear leaders, both pulled back from near-overbought (XLE 71.7→62.1, XLV 68.3→57.1) but keep the board's best 1-year sector gains (+42.75% and +27.09%) and stay comfortably above their 200-day. Industrials (XLI) fell into the oversold band (43.0→37.8) for the first time this stretch, but its +15.46% 1-year change and +4.1% distance above its 200-day say deep pullback, not weakness. Utilities remains the genuine casualty: XLU's price still sits 4.4% below its own 200-day with a barely positive year (+3.14%) and the sector's worst alpha (-16.73), even though its RSI actually firmed slightly this cycle (32.6→35.8). Communication Services (XLC) carries the same below-200-day flag on a smaller scale, and Consumer Discretionary (XLY) remains the group's weakest convincing chart at just 0.2% above its own 200-day.

Commodities delivered the board's sharpest single reversal. GLD's RSI collapsed 16.6 points (71.2→54.6) — its biggest move this cycle — while SLV fell 12.4 points (66.8→54.4); both still carry strong years (GLD +29.79%, SLV +68.98%), but SLV is now trading further below its own 200-day than last cycle (-7.7%, deepening from -2.8%), extending the volatile round-trip pattern the desk has flagged before rather than settling into a clean uptrend. COPX and USO both cooled from extension but remain the board's clearest commodity leaders on the 1-year window (COPX +92.93%, USO +72.38%). The bond complex showed early signs of stabilizing — TLT's RSI rose 6.4 points and LQD's rose 5.0 — but all five names stay death-crossed and negative on the year, so this reads as a bounce inside continued structural weakness.

Volatility stayed essentially pinned through the whole week: VIXY and VXX both remained in collapse regime (RSI 31.7 and 32.1), barely moved from last cycle even as GLD, SLV, XLE, and XLV all cooled hard and IWM's trend flipped — no hedging bid showed up anywhere on this board. Within factors, VUG posted the board's single best positive RSI move (+5.0, to 56.0), while MTUM and SMH continued cooling on short-window trend flags that their long-horizon numbers clearly overrule (MTUM +21.68% 1-year, SMH +85.64% 1-year, both still well above their 200-day). Housing (XHB, ITB) remains tethered to the bond complex's weakness, both below their 200-day with negative 1-year changes.

1. IWM diverged sharply from the rest of the broad group: RSI 52.6→45.3 (-7.3), trend flag flipped strong-up to weak-down — the one broad-index casualty this cycle, though still 9.0% above its 200-day with the group's best 1-year gain.
2. GLD posted the board's sharpest single-name move: RSI 71.2→54.6 (-16.6), cooling out of last cycle's overbought read.
3. SLV cooled hard and drifted further below its own 200-day: RSI 66.8→54.4 (-12.4); vs SMA200 deepened from -2.8% to -7.7%.
4. XLE and XLV both cooled sharply from near-overbought/breakout extension: XLE 71.7→62.1 (-9.6); XLV 68.3→57.1 (-11.2) — both remain the board's best 1-year sector gainers.
5. XLI fell into the oversold band for the first time this stretch: RSI 43.0→37.8 (-5.2), still above its 200-day with a positive year.
6. XBI, VTV, and RSP all cooled from last cycle's near-highs: XBI 63.4→53.9 (-9.5); VTV 62.0→55.1 (-6.9); RSP 60.3→55.3 (-5.0).
7. The bond complex's RSI firmed even as the 1-year picture stayed negative: TLT 43.0→49.4 (+6.4); LQD 42.4→47.4 (+5.0) — a bounce, not a repair.
8. UNG bounced within a still-broken chart: RSI 44.5→53.0 (+8.5), regime remains collapse, still 12.7% below its 200-day.
9. VUG posted the board's best positive RSI move: RSI 51.0→56.0 (+5.0).
10. VIXY/VXX held essentially flat in collapse regime — no hedging bid despite the week's commodity and small-cap weakness.

RSI < 25 = capitulation. RSI 25-40 = oversold (check trend/death-cross before treating as a buy signal). RSI 40-70 = neutral-to-healthy. RSI > 70 = overbought/extended. "vs SMA" = distance from the 20-day average (short-term positioning). "vs SMA200" and "1Y%" are the long-horizon check: a name with a red short-window trend flag but a positive 1Y change and price above its 200-day is a deep pullback in an intact trend, not a breakdown — the reverse (below the 200-day, flat-or-negative year) is real structural weakness regardless of how the current week looks.

Read: Four of five broad benchmarks firmed or held steady on RSI this cycle; IWM is the one divergence, but its long-horizon numbers say deep pullback, not a breakdown.

Read: XLE and XLV remain the board's leaders on every long-horizon window even after cooling hard from extension. XLU stays the one sector where the long-horizon check confirms real damage; XLC carries the same flag on a smaller scale. XLI's drop into the oversold band is a rough week inside an intact trend, not a breakdown.

Read: EEM and EWJ both lead on the long-horizon check; FXI remains the one name where the numbers confirm real damage, not just a rough week.

Read: All five names remain death-crossed, below their 200-day, and negative on the year — TLT and LQD both firmed several RSI points this cycle, but that reads as a bounce inside continued weakness, not a repair.

Read: Gold posted the board's single sharpest reversal — cooling 16.6 RSI points off last cycle's overbought read — while still carrying a strong year. Silver's drift further below its 200-day (now -7.7%, from -2.8% last cycle) is the complex's one real long-horizon flag.

Read: Both products stayed essentially pinned in collapse regime this cycle even as GLD, SLV, XLE, and XLV all cooled hard and IWM's trend flipped — still no hedging bid on this board.

Read: XBI remains the clean leader of this group; MTUM and SMH both continue to carry short-window "down" flags that the long-horizon numbers clearly overrule.

Read: Both housing names sit below their 200-day with negative 1-year changes, tracking the bond complex's "higher for longer" headwind rather than the equity market's broader strength.

This cycle's dominant pattern is a split tape: the broad benchmarks mostly firmed or held steady on RSI while small caps diverged sharply lower (IWM), and last cycle's extended leadership (XLE, XLV, GLD, SLV, COPX) all cooled hard from near-overbought without breaking their long-horizon trends. All five broad benchmarks and eight of eleven sectors remain above their 200-day with double-digit 1-year gains; only Utilities and Communication Services carry real structural damage on the sector side (both below their 200-day, both flat-to-barely-positive on the year, both badly negative on alpha). The bond complex showed its first signs of stabilizing RSI this cycle (TLT and LQD both firmed several points) but the 1-year and vs-200-day numbers stayed negative across all five names — a bounce, not a repair — and that weakness tracks straight through to housing (XHB, ITB), which shows the same below-200-day, negative-year pattern. Commodities delivered the board's most violent single move: gold's RSI collapse (-16.6 points) dwarfs anything on the equity side, yet its 1-year change stays comfortably positive — a textbook deep pullback in an intact trend rather than a breakdown. Volatility stayed crushed through the whole cycle, with no hedging bid showing up in VIXY or VXX despite the week's small-cap weakness and commodity reversal. Read together, this looks like broad-based digestion inside intact secular uptrends rather than the start of a risk-off move — but IWM's sharp divergence and gold's violent reversal are both worth tracking if either extends into the next cycle.

None on this board.

XLI (37.8), XLU (35.8), VIXY (31.7), VXX (33.7 → 32.1) — four names. XLU carries real structural damage (below its 200-day, weak year, worst sector alpha); XLI is a deep pullback inside an intact trend; VIXY/VXX being oversold reads as bullish for equities (crushed volatility), not a buy signal for the vol products themselves.

The remaining 38 names, led by COPX (64.7), XLE (62.1), XLF (58.5), VWO (58.4), and XLB (56.9).

• Whether IWM's sharp divergence (RSI -7.3, trend flag flipped to weak-down) is the start of a real small-cap breakdown or a one-cycle wobble, given it's still 9% above its own 200-day.
• Whether gold's violent reversal (RSI -16.6, the board's sharpest move) stabilizes or extends into a real trend break, given SLV is now trading further below its own 200-day than last cycle.
• Whether volatility staying crushed (VIXY/VXX both flat in collapse regime) through this week's small-cap and commodity weakness is complacency that gets tested, or a genuine all-clear.
• Whether the bond complex's RSI firming (TLT +6.4, LQD +5.0) is an early repair signal or just a bounce inside a still-negative-year, still-death-crossed complex.
• Whether XLI's drop into the oversold band deepens or the sector finds a floor given its still-intact long-horizon numbers.

• Tape data (price/RSI/SMA/returns): full-scan pre-computed summaries as of the 2026-08-28 close — market-pulse.
• Prior cycle for comparison: 2026-08-22-market-pulse.