This Goldman Sachs Indicator Hit 0 Only 4 Other Times in the Last 20 Years. History Says Big Tech Rallies Followed

A Goldman Sachs one-month put-call skew gauge tracking Nasdaq-100 options has hit 0 for only the fifth time in 20 years, based on data going back to September 2006. The reading suggests unusually little demand for downside protection: puts and calls are priced at roughly similar costs when skew reaches zero, versus Goldman’s long-term average near 0.11. The article notes all five near-zero occurrences have happened since the start of the AI era—late 2023, twice in 2024, and once earlier this year—typically during strong tech-led rallies rather than clear market tops. It explains put-call skew as the premium paid for puts versus calls, and cites interruptions like an August volatility spike tied to the unwinding of the yen carry trade.