NYSE margin debt (and margin debt as a % of GDP) hit a new high in December as sentiment over equities remained euphoric

NYSE margin debt (and margin debt as a % of GDP) hit a new high in December as sentiment over equities remained euphoric. Cullen Roche says you can't assume that this indicator is going to tell you when the market's turning, but I still find it to be a useful indication of broader sentiment. That is, as equities rally and euphoria increases we tend to see increasing levels of debt accumulation. We know most is long only debt because short interest has been declining over the past 5 years. This is consistent with the idea of a disaggregation of credit and the tendency for herding behavior leading to increased euphoria as investors view the market as increasingly invulnerable. Classic debt dynamics in an equity market cycle. See the charts here: (VIEW LINK)