It's the peculiar rhythm of late summer in America's markets: the heat still hangs in the air, traders drift between their terminals and the shore, and the financial news, deceptively placid, hums with portent. This week, that hum is almost a whisper. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures sit at record highs, ticking upward by fractions—mere tenths of a percent—while the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's barometer of anxiety, has sunk to its lowest reading since January. For now, the street is calm.
