What happens when the selling runs out of sellers?

Selling runs out of sellers

In lieu of my usual FX note, it is worth stepping back to share a more constructive observation from the equity tape. Not because the pain is over, but because the internal data and the anatomy of this selloff are starting to change in ways traders should respect.

The software drawdown had stopped behaving like a valuation reset and started to look more like an inventory liquidation. This was not a gentle repricing. It was a forced clearance sale. Eight straight sessions of pressure, a trillion dollars of market cap erased, and systematic flows dominating the tape rather than discretionary judgment. When selling reaches that phase, price stops being about belief and starts being about balance sheet preservation.

Institutional flow had been heavy and one-sided. Futures and cash market liquidity pushed into the lower tail of historical distributions. Hedge funds leaned into macro expressions and reduced tech exposure while long-only managers quietly stepped back. Trend-following models moved closer to short- and medium-term trigger points. That is the mechanical part of the unwind. Selling that sells because it has to, not because it wants to.

But the more interesting signal is what is happening underneath that pressure. Index hedges are being unwound rather than added. Protection is being monetized rather than chased. That shift matters. It usually appears late in a drawdown, when downside risk no longer feels open-ended, and outcomes start to compress rather than fan out.

Liquidity has been thin and brittle, which cuts both ways. The same emptiness that allows air pockets to form at the lower end also means it takes little demand to push prices higher. When order books are sparse, relief rallies are born not from optimism but from the absence of selling supply.

Volatility confirms the stress. Panic gauges have surged into historically elevated percentiles. Momentum has snapped. Those are not comfort signals, but they are often prerequisites for turning points. Markets do not bottom when everyone is calm. They bottom when exhaustion replaces fear.

The most telling development has been in software exposure itself. That trade has been thoroughly wrung out. Positioning that built up over the years was flushed in days. Shares outstanding have collapsed to levels not seen in half a decade. Large allocators had already moved to an underweight position months ago. By the time an ETF trades record volumes for multiple sessions straight, most legacy holders are already gone.

And now, finally, buyers are showing up. Not tourists, not narratives, but with a little more size. Some institutional participation is returning, alongside signs of short covering. Retail flows are no longer absent. They are not euphoric, but they are no longer hiding. That combination rarely appears at the start of a broader decline. It usually appears near the point at which selling pressure loses marginal impact.

None of this means the cycle resets overnight or that all time highs are back on the menu. This indicates the tape's character is changing. When a market transitions from forced selling to two-way trade, the risk profile shifts. Downside becomes harder work. Upside becomes cheaper.

If there is a rally, it will not be because fundamentals suddenly improved. It will be because the market ran out of sellers before it ran out of fear. That is often how bottoms are built.