You're dealing with a market that operates on entirely different rules these days. Sure, on paper it rewards stock pickers who know what they're doing—but actually executing that? That's where things get messy.

When you've got this kind of fragmentation across sectors and individual stocks moving independently from broader trends, it separates the sharp traders from everyone else. The spread between winners and losers keeps widening. You can't just follow the index and expect consistent returns.

It mirrors what we see in crypto too—when volatility spikes and correlations break down, even seasoned traders find themselves second-guessing positions. The playbook that worked three months ago doesn't guarantee anything now.