Volume Divergence Tuesday: The One Chart Every Advisor Should Show Their Clients This Week

It's the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily. I am Mike Milligan, Certified Financial Planner, founder of One Oak Financial. Every weekday I take one thing that happened in the market yesterday and turn it into a teachable moment you can use in your practice today, or to help build a better one-of-a-kind financial plan. If you are new here, this show exists for one reason: to help financial professionals and those individual investors get better at explaining, structuring, Delivering written financial plans to real clients. Educate, coach, plan is my mission, and never miss a moment's my motto. Today is Wednesday, September 9th, 2026. Yesterday, the tape gave us a signal you can use in every client meeting this week and a reason to just pay attention to what's going on in the market. Let's teach.

Be one of a kind with Mike's Plan.

Tuesday, September 8th, every major index closed in the red. The S&P down 0.58%, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.18%, the NASDAQ Composite down 0.32%, and Russell 2000 down 0.52%. The Dow led lower, that is worth noting. The Dow led the summer higher, yesterday it also led lower. So concentration in a price-weighted index cuts both ways. When you sit across from a client this week and they ask why the market was The right answer is not, the market was down. The right answer is, the Dow led it, and here's why that matters for the way your accounts are actually structured. That is the difference between commentary and planning. And just as an aside, soon on the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily, we'll talk about the difference between price-weighted indexes and market-cap-weighted indexes. Stay tuned for that soon on the One of a Kind Financial Show.

Thanks, Mike. See one of a kind with Mike's Plan.

Last week we told you to watch volume as the summer wound down. Yesterday was the first full trading day after Labor Day. Here's what the tape actually said. I ran the numbers against the prior 20-day moving average. That is the standard institutional check for whether real participation has returned to the market. SPY, which trades against the S&P 500 index, traded 44,670,000+ shares. The 20-day average was 36,322,000+. That is 123% of average volume. Traders came back to the S&P 500 in size. The QQQ traded 27,267,000+ shares. The 20-day average was 30,791,000+. That is 88.6% of the average, below average. The NASDAQ tape did not get the same participation as the S&P 500. And the IWM, which tracks the Russell 2000, traded 17,280,000+ shares. The 20-day average is 16,719,000+. That's 103.4% of average. Right at trend for small caps. So this is the actual signal. Institutional volume returns to the large-cap S&P 500. It did not return to NASDAQ. The NASDAQ closed down 0.32% on 88% of average volume, which means the sellers who showed up did not have to fight much demand to drive it lower. The S&P closed down 0.58% on 123% of average volume, which means real institutions We're repositioning inside of the S&P 500 complex. That is not panic selling, that is portfolio work being done at an institutional level. Put this in your client-facing note this week, and maybe for you, those of you do-it-yourselfers, hear me say this. Institutions returned Tuesday to work. Their money came back to large-cap S&P, not the mega-cap tech. If your portfolio is overweighted to the 7 huge names in the market, that is the tape telling you the smart money is not chasing you into that trade. That is a client review talking point you can use tomorrow.

Be one of a kind with Mike's Plan.

Let me talk about the VIX for a minute. The volatility index closed up 2.75% on Tuesday. That reversed a piece of last week's fear gauge collapse we talked about yesterday. Here's the planning application. When the VIX moves up on a broad market decline, option sellers are repricing risk. Protection got a little more expensive yesterday, not dramatically, but the 2-day sequence, Thursday's collapse, then Tuesday's rebound, is That's exactly the volatility whipsaw that shows up in a written financial plan under the risk management section, in the one-of-a-kind financial plan that shows up in the investment section. For advisors, this is the week to update your concentrated stock clients on where implied volatility sits. Not to sell anything, guys, just to show them you noticed. That is the difference between an advisor and a professional. Those clients who are listening to this, The whipsaw volatility has been something we have been accustomed to over the last number of years since COVID We're watching it closely here on the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily.

Be one of a kind with Mike's Plan.

Tonight, the NFL season opens. The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks host the New York Patriots. in Seattle. 8:20 PM Eastern is the kickoff on NBC. That's a rematch of last February's AFC title game— actually, of the Super Bowl. That's a rematch of the Super Bowl. Remember that, where Bad Bunny gained more yards at his halftime show, uh, on the football field than New England gained in the whole first half? Seattle is going to be raising the banner. Drake Maye and the Patriots come in as the visitors. Why does this matter on a financial show, guys? Because September is when America's rhythm resets. Kids in school, football on Wednesday night, Thursday night, Saturday on the college side, Sunday NFL games. The quarterly review calendars firm up. If you're a financial pro and you have not sent your fall review invitations yet for an annual review, this is the reminder. Your clients are watching the season open. Send the email. during the pregame and then watch some NFL football.

Be one of a kind with Mike's Plan.

25 years ago, on September 9th, 2001, it was a Sunday. Americans went to church. It was routine. Little did they know their faith would be called on later that week in a major act of prayer that this country still holds on to. After the traumatic events on September 11th, halfway around the world in the Kiwaja-Buhin district of Tahr province, Afghanistan, two al-Qaeda operatives posing as journalists sat down for an interview with the leader of the Northern Alliance. His name was Hamad Shah Massoud. He was the Taliban's most effective military opponent. He had been trying for months to warn. Western intelligence services that a major attack against the United States was being prepared. That interview was a suicide bombing. Moussaad was mortally wounded. He died within hours. The date was September 9th, 2001, 2 days before September 11th. Also on that day in 2001, in New York, at Arthur Ashe Stadium, 20-year-old Australian Leighton Hewitt defeated men's US player Pete Sampras 7-6, 6-1, 6-1 to win the men's US Open. That was Hewitt's first Grand Slam title. Sampras, the greatest player of his era at that point, was pushed aside by the next generation. The tournament ended. New York exhaled. Sunday night in New York City felt normal. Monday would open a normal trading week. Tuesday morning was just 48 hours away. The world sends signals before it sends the event. Mossad was warning. Nobody was listening. The best written financial plans we build are the ones designed for the Tuesday morning nobody sees coming. That's the whole point of a plan. We're going to continue to walk through the week of 9/11 tomorrow.

Be one of a kind with Mike's Plan.

Financial pros and do-it-yourselfers alike, here's the takeaway for today. We're not chasing returns as much as we are building the one-of-a-kind financial plan. Yesterday's tape showed institutions coming back to the S&P trade and skipping NASDAQ. Broad market purchases versus chasing the Mag 7. That is a data point and it's not a prediction. But the client who has a written plan does not have to react to yesterday's tape. The client without one does. The advisor who translates the tape into a written plan review to compare against the financial plan keeps the client for the next 20 years. If you want to sharpen the way you teach these ideas to clients, join us at One Oak Collective by going to www.theoneoakcollective.com. Oakcollective.com, or joining us at our school community, www.school.com/mikemilligan, or you could text the word ideas to the number 600-700. If you want a one-of-a-kind financial plan because doing yourself doesn't seem prudent for you any longer at volatile times, you can also call our office directly at 757- 909-7151. This has been Mike Milligan for the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily. Educate, coach, plan. Never miss a moment. This has been the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily for Wednesday, September 9th. This program is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. I am a Certified Financial Planning Professional. All market data referenced is from publicly Available sources as of the trading date noted. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The One of a Kind Financial Plan is a registered trademark of Mike Milligan, LLC. Consult your own licensed professional before making financial decisions based on any information discussed on this program.

Be one of a kind with Mike's plan. In a face shot growth, take a stand. Visibility strategy, take that lead. Transformation's yours, fulfill the need. Mike's got the way. To help you rise and stay. Leadership impact you'll find in your one-of-a-kind mind. Be one of a kind. Take the flight. Ooh, ooh. Mike's the guide. You'll shine bright. Ooh, ooh.