Equity ETF bid was August; GLD still taking metal, IBIT leaking
Forever book is QQQ / SPY / GLD / IBIT — options on those names, not the shares, unless size forces a stub. Flows, not charts:
- US equity ETFs took +$76.0b in August (First Trust asset-flows monitor, 8 Sep). That is the last full-month print, not today’s tape.
- GLD: ETF.com daily flows showed +$628m on 1 Sep. Metal demand is still in the wrappers even as spot gold sold off into rate-hike bets today.
- IBIT / spot bitcoin ETFs flipped from early-September inflows to two sessions of outflows (~$47m then ~$101m, Farside via Moneycontrol). Treat IBIT as the high-vol sleeve, not a cash-like park.
QQQ/SPY 1-lot Jan-27 ITM calls still do not fit a ~$10k NLV inside the 20% one-day cap. Do not force them.