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Market State Detector · Market Situation Report · No. 003 of 2026

A rules-based system that classifies every trading day into one of five market states, delivered before the open, by the same rules every morning. About the system →

Situation reportClosed · 2026-03-31
Final call · 2026-03-31
CALM
SEVERITY 1 OF 5 · THE SCALE RUNS CALM → SYSTEMIC STRESS

CALM is back in effect. The system stood down from a TURNING episode before the open.

The system returned to Calm this morning, ending a Turning episode.

Report No. 003 of 2026 · opened 2026-03-03
LAST 20 SESSIONS · VIX + S&P 500 · STATE BAND = THE CALL IN EFFECT
TURNINGSTRESSTURNINGVOL SPIKETURNING31.121.1VIX6,8706,344S&P03/0303/1603/30
VIX · CBOE VOLATILITY INDEX
30.61
5-SESSION CHANGE +17.1%
S&P 500
6,343.72
5-SESSION CHANGE -3.6%

Inputs are the 2026-03-30 close. A call never sees its own day's close.

01 · The Call · 2026-03-31
TYPE: CALM RESTORED · the system returning to Calm after a non-Calm episode
THIS SITUATION CLOSES WHEN · 2 CONDITIONS+
(a) Calm holds for 10 sessions with no re-escalation (held).(b) The system re-escalates within 10 sessions (a new episode opens).
02 · The Precedent

This exact setup has occurred 33 times since 2012.

The most common resolution: calm held, in 85% of matches. Every match is counted in exactly one outcome bucket below.

QUERY: first morning back in CALM after a non-Calm episode · 3,581 SESSIONS SINCE 2012 · 33 MATCHES
MEDIAN PATH THROUGH ALL 33 MATCHES · VIX + S&P 500 INDEXED TO 100 AT THE MATCH20 SESSIONS BEFORE → 15 AFTER
THE MATCHED MORNING · TODAY'S POSITION12088VIX101.597.4S&P20 SESSIONS0+15 SESSIONS

THE DASHED LINE IS WHERE TODAY SITS. SAME TRIGGER WINDOW AS THE CHART ABOVE.

HISTORICAL MARKET CLASSIFICATION OUTCOMES · ALL 33 MATCHES
85%
15%
28 OF 33Calm held. No re-escalation within 10 sessions
5 OF 33Re-escalated. The system left Calm again within 10 trading sessions
HISTORY, NOT A FORECAST · MINDFORGE · REPORT 2026-003 · 2026-03-31

Free · issued pre-open when conditions warrant

03 · Situation Log

The situation opened 2026-03-03; every pre-open call since is logged below.

One entry per trading morning until a closing condition is met: the call, and the closes it was made against.

2026-03-03 · DAY 1TURNING · VIX 21.44 (+2.0% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,881.62 (+0.6%)
2026-03-04 · DAY 2TURNING · VIX 23.57 (+20.6% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,816.63 (-1.1%)
2026-03-05 · DAY 3TURNING · VIX 21.15 (+18.0% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,869.50 (-1.1%)
2026-03-06 · DAY 4STRESS · VIX 23.75 (+27.5% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,830.71 (-1.1%)
2026-03-09 · DAY 5STRESS · VIX 29.49 (+48.5% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,740.02 (-2.0%)
2026-03-10 · DAY 6STRESS · VIX 25.50 (+18.9% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,795.99 (-1.2%)
2026-03-11 · DAY 7STRESS · VIX 24.93 (+5.8% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,781.48 (-0.5%)
2026-03-12 · DAY 8STRESS · VIX 24.23 (+14.6% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,775.80 (-1.4%)
2026-03-13 · DAY 9TURNING · VIX 27.29 (+14.9% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,672.62 (-2.3%)
2026-03-16 · DAY 10TURNING · VIX 27.19 (-7.8% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,632.19 (-1.6%)
2026-03-17 · DAY 11TURNING · VIX 23.51 (-7.8% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,699.38 (-1.4%)
2026-03-18 · DAY 12TURNING · VIX 22.37 (-10.3% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,716.09 (-1.0%)
2026-03-19 · DAY 13TURNING · VIX 25.09 (+3.5% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,624.70 (-2.2%)
2026-03-20 · DAY 14VOLATILITY SPIKE · VIX 24.06 (-11.8% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,606.49 (-1.0%)
2026-03-23 · DAY 15VOLATILITY SPIKE · VIX 26.78 (-1.5% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,506.48 (-1.9%)
2026-03-24 · DAY 16VOLATILITY SPIKE · VIX 26.15 (+11.2% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,581.00 (-1.8%)
2026-03-25 · DAY 17TURNING · VIX 26.95 (+20.5% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,556.37 (-2.4%)
2026-03-26 · DAY 18TURNING · VIX 25.33 (+1.0% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,591.90 (-0.5%)
2026-03-27 · DAY 19TURNING · VIX 27.44 (+14.0% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,477.16 (-2.0%)
2026-03-30 · DAY 20TURNING · VIX 31.05 (+15.9% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,368.85 (-2.1%)
2026-03-31 · DAY 21CALM · VIX 30.61 (+17.1% / 5 SESSIONS) · S&P 500 6,343.72 (-3.6%)

This report is preserved at its permanent address · the live report continues every trading morning →

END OF TODAY'S REPORT

BELOW: STANDING REFERENCE · THE SYSTEM, ITS RECORD, AND DEFINITIONS. UNCHANGED DAY TO DAY.

Reference · The SystemTAP TO EXPAND +

The call is produced by a rules-based classifier, not a human judgment.

The Market State Detector classifies every trading day into one of five regime states, delivered before the open, by the same rules every morning.

WHAT IT ISMARKET STATE DETECTOR · A DAILY MARKET-REGIME CLASSIFIER
THE FIVE STATES[CALM]TURNINGSTRESSVOLATILITY SPIKESYSTEMIC STRESSIn order of severity. The current state is highlighted; each links to its definition.
WHEN IT RUNSBEFORE THE OPEN · EVERY TRADING MORNING
INPUTSENVIRONMENTAL SIGNALS + MARKET DATA (S&P 500, VIX)
WHEN THE CALL CHANGESSUBSCRIBERS ARE ALERTED THE SAME MORNING
Reference · The RecordTAP TO EXPAND +

The system's highest-severity call has been correct 10 times out of 10 since 2012, backtested and live.

An alert is a pre-open classification into one of the four elevated states; the record below scores those classifications against what the market did next. All five states are defined here.

CRISIS CALLS · SYSTEMIC STRESS9 OF 9 CORRECT IN THE 2012–2024 BACKTEST · 1 OF 1 CORRECT LIVE (APRIL 2025)The live call was delivered pre-open on 2025-04-04; the next session, VIX touched 60 intraday.
"COULDN'T WE BUILD THIS FROM VIX OURSELVES?"THE TABLE BELOW IS THAT TESTWe built a best-effort VIX-only classifier (adaptive percentile gates, z-scores, and rate-of-change rules) and scored it against the system over the same 2012–2024 history with identical rules. The VIX trigger on this page only flags that a morning needs a call; the call itself comes from the classifier.
HEAD-TO-HEAD · 2012–2024THIS SYSTEMVIX-ONLY BENCHMARK
Crisis calls that were correct9 of 913 of 16
False positives at the crisis tier03
False positives across all four elevated states1040
Alerts issued in total99201

Same history, same scoring: 75% fewer false positives at half the alert volume.

MOST RECENT LIVE TWO-SIDED CALL · IRAN SHOCK 2026TURNING 2026-03-04 · OFF CALM AT VIX 19 → CALM 2026-03-31 · AT VIX 30.6The system left Calm while VIX was 19, and returned to Calm while VIX was still 30.6.
ALERT FREQUENCYFEWER THAN 15 ALERTS A YEAR
Reference · DefinitionsTAP TO EXPAND +

Every outcome bucket was defined before the fact.

These definitions do not move after the outcome is known. Prices come from CBOE and Yahoo Finance.

"CALM HELD" (HELD)no re-escalation within 10 sessions of the all-clear
"RE-ESCALATED" (RE-ESCALATED)the system left Calm again within 10 sessions of the all-clear
TIMESTAMPSA CALL DATED 2026-03-31 IS DELIVERED PRE-OPEN THAT MORNING, FROM CLOSES THROUGH 2026-03-30 · A CALL NEVER SEES ITS OWN DAY'S CLOSE
PRICE SOURCESCBOE (VIX) · YAHOO FINANCE (S&P 500) · CLOSES AS OF 2026-03-30
DATA WINDOW2012–2024 BACKTESTED · JAN 2025 ONWARD OUT-OF-SAMPLE · APR 2025 ONWARD LIVE PRODUCTION

Historical base rates since 2012: history, not a forecast. Past classifications do not guarantee future accuracy. Research use only. Mindforge is not a registered investment adviser. Full terms: mindforge.tech/terms · Methodology: mindforge.tech/validation-and-methods

Research use only. Not investment advice. Past performance ≠ future results. Mindforge is not a registered investment adviser. Full terms · Methods