Fear ticked from 11 to 14 - is this the bottom or just a dead cat bounce?

Yesterday: 11/100 on Fear & Greed.

Today: 14/100.

That's it. That's the "recovery."

Three points off the absolute floor while Iran headlines keep coming and Berkshire posts a 30% drop in operating earnings.

What's Actually Happening

The Fear reading is telling us something important.

Extreme fear doesn't mean "wrong."

It means nobody wants to buy.

Look at today's action:

$PCTTW +168% - that's not institutional accumulation.

$KORE +78%, $ENSC +58%, $AAOI +57% - these are short squeezes and degenerate gambling.

Meanwhile, $LBGJ -84%, $UOKA -62% - real money getting vaporized.

Crypto's telling the same story.

$GRASS and $PENGU trending alongside $BTC.

Retail's either de-risking into Bitcoin or straight-up gambling on memes.

There's no middle ground.

This "bounce" in sentiment means nothing.

We went from "maximum panic" to "slightly less panic."

The last time I saw Fear this low was March 2020.

Difference? The Fed could still cut rates back then.

Now? Rates are elevated, inflation's sticky, and we're dealing with actual war risk.

I'm not saying sell everything.

But I'm also not buying because "Fear is low."

Fear is low for a reason.

Sometimes the market's scared because it should be.

Posted Mar 1, 2026, 1:45 AM UTC