In this September 2, 2026 episode of the One‑of‑a‑Kind Financial Show Daily, CFP Mike Milligan delivers a market‑focused briefing and a broader financial‑planning lesson. He opens with a snapshot of the September 1 market drop: the S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 all fell while the 10‑year Treasury yield rose to 4.8%, and oil spiked 5.5% amid Iran tensions. Milligan attributes the equity decline to higher yields forcing lower PE multiples and a global bond sell‑off reminiscent of the 1997 Asian crisis. He then explains the House’s stop‑gap spending bill that funds the government through December 11, 2026, highlighting the political timing around the November midterms and the potential for higher long‑term yields. A core theme is his “volume thesis”: the week before Labor Day is historically thin‑traded, so price moves on low volume are less reliable and often reverse when normal volume returns. He advises investors to hold off on September‑specific plans until the week of September 8. Milligan pivots to a historical analogy: V‑J Day 1945, noting that the post‑war economic architecture (IMF, World Bank, GI Bill, Marshall Plan) was planned years in advance. He draws a parallel to personal finance—plans should be written while the “fight” is ongoing, not after a crisis hits. He adds three celebrity birthday anecdotes (Keanu Reeves, Salma Hayek, Billy Preston) and extracts three financial morals: quiet generosity builds lasting wealth, owning a production/company before big commitments, and becoming an irreplaceable specialist adds value. Finally, Milligan offers concrete planning actions: consider Roth conversions while tax brackets are favorable, and take advantage of the unusually high yields on CDs, Treasuries, MYGAs, and fixed‑income annuities. The episode ends with standard disclosures, contact information, and a reminder that the content is educational, not personalized advice.
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It's the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily. I'm Mike Milligan, Certified Financial Planner, coming to you from San Juan, Puerto Rico. September rolled in red to start the month. Yesterday's numbers, the shutdown that got kicked to December 11th. The volume thesis I laid out Monday is holding true. I'm going to do a little history for September 2nd, the day the entire world formally reset, and 3 birthdays you know by heart. Let's go.
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After a month where everything rose— stocks, Bitcoin, gold, oil— September kicked off with everything except for oil going the other way. Per CNBC, the S&P 500 was down 0.71%, the Dow off more than 400 points, down 0.79%, the NASDAQ a full 1.03% off, or 271 points down, And the Russell 2000 down 1.23% or 36.132 points. The 10-year Treasury yield hit 4.8%. That's the highest since early 2025. That's a story. We'll cover that again later this week. Oil up 5.46%, gold down 2.86%, and Bitcoin roughly still around $77,160. Why the drop in the market? 2 forces stacked on top of each other. CNBC's coverage cited higher yields are the stock market's undoing because analysts have to discount future earnings more aggressively, which pushes PE multiples down. All that is industry talk saying that safety, meaning yields on bonds, Versus what the stock market yields means that the risk-adjusted return may not be worth it. And the same coverage on CNBC flagged a global bond sell-off that some traders are comparing to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Meanwhile, the Iran escalation lit oil on fire, which feeds right back into the inflation story that is keeping yields high. Read that closely. September 1st was a bond story, not a stock story. Stocks were the collateral damage. This is educational context only, not a call to sell anything, but just a reminder that your one-of-a-kind financial plan, uh, accounts for days like today.
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On Tuesday, the House passed a stopgap spending bill. 370 yeas to 48 nays. Per CNBC, 19 Republicans voted no, 29 Democrats voted no. The Senate had already passed it before their summer recess. This bill now goes to President Trump for signature. Now read the date on the bill. It funds the government through December 11th, 2026. That is not an accident. Midterm elections are November 3rd. Speaker Mike Johnson wanted Congress out of session and back home campaigning. December 11th gets the country past the election and into the lame duck window before a bigger fight has to happen. This is a quote from Speaker Johnson. Thanks to the House Republicans' leadership and the foresight back in July, we began the necessary process to ensure that the government would not be shut down We are not going to have our troops in harm's way without getting paychecks. The concerns from Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Harris of Maryland, they're part of the Freedom Caucus voices, flagged Planned Parenthood funding and missing THC hemp ban. Senator Murray of Washington, ranking Democrat on Appropriations, said, We have a lot of work ahead in the coming months to negotiate spending bills that invest in families instead of President Trump's war budget. It sounds like there's a fight coming. So mark that date, December 11th. That starts before the Thanksgiving turkey has even cooled off. Continuing resolutions extend current funding. They do not solve anything. The $40 trillion debt story we talked about on Monday keeps getting kicked forward. Bond markets are watching. Rising yields yesterday partly reflect what traders think about long-term fiscal discipline in Washington. A continuing resolution through the election is not fiscal discipline, folks. Rates could stay higher longer because of it. You can't vote on the continuing resolution, but you can plan around it. Higher rates mean CDs, Treasuries, MYGAs, fixed income annuities, keep paying yields. you haven't seen in 15 to 20 years, Roth conversion math still favors doing it now under tax brackets before whatever fight December 12th kicks off changes the code over the next coming years.
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Monday, I said the week before Labor Day is one of the lowest volume weeks of the year, and thin volumes amplifies moves. Yesterday tested the thesis. Verdict? Thesis held on Tuesday. The S&P 500 measured in this volume analysis by SPY traded 40.1 million shares yesterday versus a moving average of 50.3 million. That's 79.9% normal. The NASDAQ Composite traded 60.5% of normal. In QQQ, yeah, that's an ETF that tracks broader tech companies, 81.6% of normal. NASDAQ at only 60% of normal volume. That is a market where portfolio managers are not moving big blocks. They're letting the tape or the market just move, which means the down day happened on very thin conviction, not on heavy institutional exit. Remember the 3 rules from Monday? Small orders move prices more than they should when volume is thin. The tape can lie, meaning the move in the markets may not be accurate. A 1% drop on 60% volume is not the same signal in the market as a 1% drop on full volume. And reversal risk is high. Thin volume moves often get retraced the following week. Do not build a September plan or a financial plan on what happened on Tuesday, September 1st. Wait for volume to normalize the week of September 8th when full desks are back and the August job numbers have hit.
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On this day in 1945, 81 years ago today, Japanese representatives boarded the USS Missouri. in Tokyo Bay and signed Japanese Instrument of Surrender. General Douglas MacArthur signed for the Allied Powers. Fleet Commander Chester Nimitz signed for the United States. World War II was finally over. V-J Day. Per the National World War II Museum, the ceremony took 23 minutes. Think about that. 6 years of global war, 70 to 85 million dead, whole economies destroyed, ended by a signature ceremony that lasted less time than the cumulative minutes of this show during the week. But here's what most people miss. The plan for what came after the war was already written. The Bretton Woods Conference of July 1944, over a year before the signature, had already created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The GI Bill had been signed by FDR in June 1944, over a year before this signature. The Marshall Plan was being drafted. American planners knew the war would end. They started planning what came next years in advance. That is the lesson for a one-of-a-kind financial plan. You do not write your plan when the crisis hits or ends. You write your plan while you're in the middle of the fight, before you need the plan to take action. During the working years, during the accumulation phase, During the storms, retirement, legacy, health events, spouse loss. Those are the surrenders. If you wait until they happen to write the plan, you've already lost 12 months or more of runway. The world reset September 2nd, 1945, because a small number of people had spent 3 years planning the reset. Write your plan. While you're still working. Don't wait until you have to surrender. That is why we build the one-of-a-kind financial plan.
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3 big September 2nd birthdays. Keanu Reeves turns 62 today, born in Beirut, Lebanon, raised in Toronto, Point Break, Speed, The Matrix trilogy, John Wick franchise. He's famous for donating tens of millions to cancer research through a foundation he keeps quiet, for splitting his Matrix backend earnings with the special effects and costume teams. One financial lesson from Keanu: quiet wealth outperforms loud wealth every time, and generosity Is a strategy. It doesn't happen by accident. Selma Hayek, also famous actress, turns 60 today. Born in Mexico, she broke through in the movie Desperado, Oscar nominated as best actress for starring in Frida. She's the first Mexican-born actress ever nominated. She's married to Kering CEO, Pinault, but built her own production company, Venta Rosa, before that marriage. Financial lesson from her is own your production company before you own anything else, and maybe even before making that huge commitment. And then Billy Preston, who turned 80 today on September 2nd, he actually died in 2006. He's a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame keyboardist nicknamed the 5th Beatle. The only non-Beatle credited on a Beatles song, Get Back. That's a little bit of trivia for you folks. He played with Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke. He wrote the song You Are So Beautiful, Joe Cocker's hit, and Will It Go Round in Circles. The best session musician in rock history. The financial lesson from Billy, Being the go-to player nobody can replace is worth more than being the star nobody can hire. Actor, producer, session musician— 3 completely different careers, all born on September 2nd, all show that value gets built by doing your thing better than everyone else.
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That's the show for September 2nd. Estoy aprendiendo. I am learning. So are you, hopefully, by listening to the show. September starts red. The yield on the 10-year at 4.8%. The shutdown pushed to December 11th. The volume was light, so do not overreact on the tape. And on this day in 1945, the world reset because a few people planned the reset 2 to 3 years in advance. Write your plan while you're still working. That is the whole show. We're not chasing returns. We're building the one-of-a-kind financial plan. My mission is to educate, coach, plan. My motto is to never miss a moment. To connect with us, text the word IDEAS, I-D-E-A-S, IDEAS to 600-700, or call our office directly at 757-909-7151. Also hit the subscribe button. On this podcast. I'm Mike Milligan. I'll see you tomorrow. The One of a Kind Financial Show is for educational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. References to any person, company, index, or security, including SPY, DIA, QQQ, IWM, GLD, USO, Bitcoin, And any named individuals are for illustration and education only and are not recommendations to buy, sell, or hold any security. Any references to CDs, treasuries, annuities, and Roth conversions are educational descriptions of financial planning categories, not product recommendations for any listeners. Data figures and quotes attributed to CNBC, the Mark— the Marquardt Group, Wikipedia, and the National World War II Museum are those sources reporting and not those of me, Mike Milligan. One Oak Financial or any affiliate or unaffiliated entities. Political characterizations of any elected officials are attributed to those officials' public statements and coverage from CNBC. Consult your own licensed certified financial planner, CPA, or attorney before acting. I am a certified financial planning professional and the founder of One Oak Financial. Visit us at www.oneoakfinancial.com. That's the number one oak financial.
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