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The Clock Is Ticking on Wall Street's $1.5 Trillion Powder Keg, and History Says Time Is Almost Up

Outstanding margin debt is going parabolic -- and that's terrible news for the stock market.

The Clock Is Ticking on Wall Street's $1.5 Trillion Powder Keg, and History Says Time Is Almost Up

Published July 25, 2026 · Category: Finance

Overview

For much of the last 17 years, the bulls have been in firm control on Wall Street. Save for the five-week COVID-19 crash in February-March 2020 and the nine-month bear market in 2022, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) have made a habit of trending higher since the end of the financial crisis.

While long-winded bull markets are nothing new for Wall Street, we also know they don't last indefinitely. Headwinds have been mounting, ranging from the historical priciness of equities to the growing likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to stabilize prices.

Details

But perhaps no downside catalyst stands out more than margin debt -- aka Wall Street's $1.5 trillion powder keg.

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Source

Originally published at www.fool.com.

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