Vanda Research Retail Waiting For Macro Risks To Clear 21Sep2026

VR Patel - Retail Waiting For Macro Risks To Clear 21 Sep 2026 Viraj Patel · Vanda Research · Chief Innovation Officer & Global Market Strategist, Partner Mon 21 Sep 2026, 9:04am ET

• Equity positioning has already de-risked meaningfully, while retail remain highly selective and overall activity is fading. That leaves overall equities less crowded than 1M ago – but bond yields are the binding constraint for a tactical bounce in risk appetite.

1. RETAIL ARE STILL BUYING... BUT ONLY WHERE THEY HAVE CONVICTION. The retail bid remains concentrated in a handful of individual names rather than broad-based across the market. More recently, it's been Crowdstrike Holdings Inc that has captured the attention of retail after recent AI security warnings (chart below).

In short, investors are still willing to buy weakness when on either a strong narrative or notable sell-off (ie, Netflix Inc. on Friday). But this remains a stock-picker's market for retail rather than the old 'buy everything' FOMO regime.

2. RETAIL BUYING MOMENTUM IS STARTING TO FADE AGAIN. As the chart below shows, retail buying had begun to pick up at the start of the month – but that momentum has quickly stalled. 1M rolling net buying of both individual stocks and total listed securities is now rolling over again, reinforcing that the broader retail bid remains relatively subdued.