Why does the market often look strong during truly dangerous times? The longer you trade, the more you realize that major risks rarely erupt when everyone is panicking. Instead, they often appear when indices hit new highs, leaders keep surging, and bad news seems to have no effect. That’s because market tops are never about 'no one buying anymore,' but rather about the last wave of the most optimistic capital rushing in. Indices are propped up by a few heavyweight stocks, masking the fact that many individual stocks may have already weakened beneath the surface. Trading becomes increasingly concentrated, valuations rely more and more on distant growth expectations, and as long as the leaders don’t fall, everyone assumes the system is fine. In 2007, after long-term bond yields climbed to their peak, U.S. stocks continued to rise for months. High interest rates didn’t cause an immediate crash but instead slowly eroded real estate, credit, and corporate financing behind the scenes. By the time the risks finally made the headlines, the most sensitive capital had already started to retreat. I used to equate rising prices with safety and falling prices with danger. Later, I realized that strong prices only indicate that buyers are currently in control—it doesn’t prove the system is free of cracks. The higher the market goes, the more you need to watch market breadth, credit spreads, and liquidity, rather than just focusing on whether the index is in the green. True risks are never absent; they’re just often temporarily masked by rising prices. Remember: The most dangerous moments in the market are often not when bad news is everywhere, but when everyone believes bad news no longer matters.