The Big Money Just Sent a Strange Signal

Hey, Ross here:

The latest institutional data is out.

And at first glance, it looks like the biggest investors in the market are getting a little more cautious.

But when you look at what they actually did with their portfolios…

You get a very different picture.

Take a look:

Chart of the Day

This tracks whether institutional investors are leaning toward riskier or safer assets.

Risk appetite came down from the unusually strong reading we saw in June.

But it stayed positive.

At first glance, you might read that as institutions taking their foot off the gas.

Then you look at what they actually did with their portfolios.

In July, institutional equity allocations increased another 142 basis points to roughly 58%.

That’s well above the long-term average.

So while institutions were a little less aggressive than they were in June…

They still added to stocks.

And retail traders were buying too.

Through the end of July, Schwab’s Trading Activity Index had risen for three straight months to its highest level since January 2022.

Schwab clients were also net buyers by roughly 2-to-1.

So there was plenty of demand for stocks from both retail and institutional investors in July.

That’s another healthy sign for this market.

But there’s something very different about the way those two groups have to put their money to work.

And for individual traders, that difference can create an unusual advantage.

I explain below.

Insight of the Day

In certain important ways, the “big money” is constrained – and we can use that to our advantage

Institutions have more money, research and resources than we do.

But all that size comes with restrictions.

If you want to buy $10,000 worth of a stock, you can usually do it immediately.

If a fund wants to put $100 million into the same stock, it has a very different problem.

Buy too much at once and the price runs away from them.

So they have to work the position over time.

They buy some shares… wait for more sellers… then come back for more.

But if it wants a meaningful position, eventually it has to put the money into the market.

That part it can’t hide.

And when you know what to look for, those trades can leave footprints behind…

Footprints we can follow so we can use their money for our gain.

The best part is that you don’t share their size problem.

While a giant institution may still be spending days building its position…

You can move in a fraction of the time.

That’s why in just a few hours at 11 a.m. Eastern today…

I’m going LIVE for a strategy briefing revealing exactly how to follow these institutional footprints for our gain.

The strategy I’ll be briefing you on could have had you sitting on open gains like 480%… 347%… . and even 582% right now.

So click here to guarantee your free seat if you haven’t yet…

And I’ll see you in just a bit at 11 a.m. ET.

P.S. If you’re planning to attend on a mobile device, make sure you download the presentation app now so you don’t miss anything when it starts. See you there.

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/goto/id1465614785
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Customer Story of the Day

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Editor, Stock Surge Daily