Semiconductor investor leverage—which had hit record levels in June— is now largely back to "normal". According to JPM, hedge-fund leverage has been cut, retail call buying has slowed, and leveraged-ETF assets have unwound about 85% overall and 55% in memory. With memory prices unlikely to crack before late 2027, and revised hyperscaler capex forecasts touching $770 billion in 2026 and $1 trillion in 2027, optimism has a tailwind. What we have is a system in perpetual disequilibrium: momentum strategies and leveraged products inflate rallies, and then amplify collapses, like people responding to the swinging Millennium Bridge by racing from side to side, making the swinging worse. Exhausted sellers, elevated shorts, and less momentum chasing create the conditions for short covering, momentum re-entry, and leveraged ETF buying.