Come to think of it (CTTOI?) this is yet another example of confusing price trend signals. We should either have goodnews=goodnews like during a recovery when stocks are bid up with folks going back to work, or we should have goodnews=badnews like with an aging expansion where stocks bid up on the Fed lowering rates on bad econ reports.
Maybe what we got here is an aging recovery that still hasn’t gotten any where so signs keep getting scrambled...
And some institutional investors who stand ready to buy when the retail market (such as it is) panics and wants to sell out...particularly when the institutional market can pour gasoline on the panicked fire sale of said retail investors.
And my advice to retail investors...don't panic. Just hang tough.
I usually buy on the drops...and the bigger the drop, the more I buy. I learned this by spending a little time on the trading floor of the firm where I worked.
Institutional investors don't care whether you are retail or institutional. They'll take your cash or give you cash for your shares...no matter who you are.