Flow data shows that, in 2026, average daily stock purchases by retail investors on S&P 500 down days reached their highest level ever recorded.

And the most curious fact:

This rate is more than 100% higher than that observed during the meme stock frenzy in 2021.

The pattern has also become more extreme.

Year-to-date, retail investors are buying 2.5 times more on down days than on up days.

In February alone, this ratio reached 4.3 times.

Each selloff in the market is being quickly absorbed by individual investors buying the dip.

This behavior is not entirely new.

For the past 7 years, retail investors have been buying more on down days than on up days.

But the current intensity is unprecedented.

In practice, the individual investor is becoming one of the main buyers of each market correction.