Margin debt declined by nearly $14 billion in August bringing the two-month decline to $31.5 billion. This is the largest two-month decline since, you guessed it, September 2011. Margin debt is now approximately $34 billion off the high made in April. Net margin debt is now about $40 billion below the high made in April. This has been primarily caused by a decline in debit balances. Lastly, surprisingly the 1-quarter moving average of margin debt as a percent of total market cap actually increased to a new all-time high in August.
