Diamond-Handed Young Investors Keep Buying Dips as Markets Hit Highs

Red days used to sting, but now they look like buying opportunities to young investors. Largely unscarred by the dot‑com or financial crisis, raised on years of super-low rates and a promise that “stocks only go up,” this cohort has kept the dip buying spree alive. Their steady mentality has helped drive rebounds to record highs even with tariff turmoil, recent jobs data jitters, and stretched stock valuations shaking the market.

• When the S&P 500 collapsed 19% in 2022, traders piled $27B into US equities — but this year’s “Liberation Day” market meltdown surpassed it with a record $31B in net inflows.
• According to JPMorgan data, these traders now participate at unprecedented levels of options activity — while transacting at roughly 2x the volumes seen in 2010, per Jefferies.

Higher highs, lower lows? Strategists believe risk-taking is emboldened amid record 401(k) millionaires and the addictive nature of gamified investing. While today’s lofty valuations risk sharp declines, Charles Schwab research suggests durability, with 80% planning to buy into volatility. Still, US households are more exposed to equities than at any time since the 1950s, and history cautions. The S&P 500 took seven years to recover from dot-com peaks, and even Mike Tyson’s wisdom applies: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”