You missed all the reports the past 2 years about "record number of money" being pulled out of the markets in U.S. and foreign by investors. Everybody knows that when investors are leaving the markets...the impact hits traders very fast as a consequence. I don't see all those billions and billions of dollars coming back any time soon for several years.
You're happy because you don't know what you're missing.... no more real people in markets. No more "public" in markets. Pros beating each other's brains out! Most hedge funds under-performing S & P by 10%! Do you think Mark Cuban would own the Dallas Mavericks if he began trading in these crap markets?! Remember.... people make money in a casino too ... from time-to-time! LOL
You asking what did the investors do after taking the money (volume) out of the markets ??? Lets put it this way, I have a friend (unemployed) for 8 months that took 250k out of his "investments" and is using the money to survive on and pay down some debt. Basically, in general, the volume (money) is on the sidelines. The volume (money) won't return any time soon in the next several years. FEAR will keep the volume (money in the billions) out of the markets.
i would add uncertainty. fear and uncertainty. even pro's are giving up,cause today markets been driven by fed and politics.not "typical" fundamentals/economy. everyone see same thing-disconnection. we are at all time high,volatility-all time low. is US economy doing better? do we have stellar,solid growth ,that "justify" this bull market? debt problem solved? balanced budget? we got one downgrade already,more to come,if current situation is not solved. it's complete disconnection on every level. this is why so many folks are on sidelines.
Agreed, particular attention to the part about today's markets being "driven by the Fed and politics". Never in the 20+ years that I've been involved has it taken such a prolonged center stage. Sure, in years past there was anticipation of Fed meetings, but the markets would still oscillate, react to earnings, react to economic numbers, etc, etc...at this stage, the politicians and central banks serve to inject some heroin into the dying junky to stop him from going into the effects of withdrawal. Once the junky has his shot he just flatlines for weeks at a time, until he goes into fits again. To say that the markets have gone thru this in the past is overstating it. Sure, there have been periods of low volatility, but for different reasons. And looking at a historical chart of the S&P 500 to compare those times to the present is equally misleading. It's the WAY in which the market traded vs the way it currently trades. 2004-06 was bad to an extent, but that was still the infancy of HFT and centrally planned markets. It just set the stage for what was yet to come. Lack of volume speaks volumes (and God knows how much worse it would be without all of the gimmicks associated with churning to front run the next slowest algo).
I didn't say anything about market direction which is an entirely different topic nor does it have anything to do with my replies. Volume and volatility will continue to remain low until investors bring their money back to the markets. As to the overall direction...I'll let the academia and long term investors worry about that.