Buffer: ample
Buffer: thinned
same spark, two terminal regimes
How the liquidity buffer turns a pullback into a record gap loss
fundamental spark
AI wobble · oil shock
3
leveraged fund
crowded single-factor trade
2
long AI
single-name
x
L
short
software
low-vol straight-line tape lets gross build
vol reprices
margin call
4
5
forced selling
1
reserves
the buffer: reserves + dealer capacity
reserves thinner + dealer capacity constrained
others holding the same factor
ordinary, buffered
drawdown absorbed
record gap loss
at the leveraged node
6
reverses tape
momentum
quant
single-name