The markets had their fair share of mood swings last month, but investors stayed positive and didn’t lose hope. According to our latest Bear or Bull survey, 52.8% of investors are bullish heading into October, down slightly from last month’s 58.5%. Additionally, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 are both up over 20% this year, with the S&P 500 seeing positive monthly returns in 10 of the last 11 months.

• This positive sentiment is driven by investors pouring $501B into ETFs during the third quarter of 2024, and Americans are tapping into their pandemic savings to invest more actively in the stock market.
• As of Sept. 27, ETF assets have ballooned to $14.1T — up from $11.6T at the end of 2023 — boosted by new inflows, institutional investing, and rising markets.

The ETF boom: Investors are shifting towards ETFs for diversified asset exposure, moving away from traditional investments like cash and individual mutual funds. This trend reflects a growing preference for the efficiency and flexibility that ETFs provide, especially during volatile market conditions. Since 2020, retail investors’ stock portfolios have outperformed the S&P 500 by 15 percentage points. Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas remains optimistic, saying, “Some ETF records aren’t going to be broken this year — they’re going to be destroyed.”