VIX drops to 14.2, hitting a new low for 2026, and the market is unnervingly calm…… but Wall Street heavyweights have already started calling for risk-avoidance en masse. According to BTIG, since 1990, in every midterm election year, the equal-weight S&P—starting from its average high point on August 18—has retreated by at least 7% by mid-October. And now we’re exactly at this point in time: geopolitical conflicts are still intensifying, and there are signs of weakness in consumer demand. Friends, is this kind of extreme calm—could it be quiet before the storm?