TheSlayer's Market Thoughts

TD Ameritrade said some interesting things on its earnings call today, April 16, 2013. In the main, it sounded as if they were trying to calm any jittery nerves about the market. Thus, they said things like this:

The reality is that while those investors who are engaged in the markets are increasingly bullish and our RIAs continue — are currently fully invested with record low levels of client cash as a percentage of client assets, many retail investors remain cautious.

Well, fine, though I don' t particularly like the "fully invested" part - where is additional cash going to come from? The people on the sidelines? If they aren't in yet, what makes you think a higher market will draw them in?

They also said this:

[We are in] an increasing market with a few corrections along the way for increased volatility. That’s a perfect market environment for us

All well and good, you need to keep traders honest with an occasional spanking. Then, they said this, which just leapt out at me for some reason:

Retail investor sentiment improved over the quarter…Our Investor Movement Index continues to demonstrate increased bullishness, showing upward movement in 8 of the last 9 months and is currently at its highest level since June of 2011. But while settlement has improved, engagement remains toughened as many investors hesitate to reenter the markets. 

Now, obviously, they were trying to say that the markets were completely healthy and so on and so forth. But I remember June 2011. Just to refresh your recollection, here is a chart of the S&P 500 for that summer of 2011:

SPX June 2011

June 2011 was a volatile month for the market, with quite a correction in progress at the start of the month. It did end well, so at least that part worked out well for "retail investor sentiment." But that's an odd month to bring up if you are trying to say that skies are nothing but sunny. Interpretations may vary on that.

So, anyway, they had some interesting things to say on the call. Always good to check in with what the brokers are saying, they know all.