Inflows into U.S. equity funds approached $30 billion in the most recent week, the fifth-highest total ever, says EPFR Global. One measure of investors' equity exposure is at a two-decade high.
Investors can comfort themselves that this potential energy for the market remains, but it is unclear how much longer they can extend the bull market.
We can cite "cash on the sidelines," in the hackneyed phrase. But if it comes off the sidelines to buy stocks, that same amount of cash sits in the hands of the sellers. And share prices depend as much on their owners' reluctance to sell and willingness to let winners ride and leverage build as from new buy orders. Prices move based on the relative urgency of buyers and sellers, not the raw quantity of dollars deployed.
Big investment ops during a global Pandemic for companies who have all their products and services online, nothing for firms whose products involve walk-in or in-person anything, very bad.