Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management, said in an e-mail that his research suggests the deposits into funds aren’t large enough yet to cause concern. Only unusually large flows over a four to six month period generate signals of a top, he said, and the signal can be “pretty noisy and unreliable.”
“Nothing suggests an irrational exuberance is taking hold of retail traders,” Jacobsen said in an e-mail today. “The flows into and out of mutual funds haven’t been consistent enough to raise concerns about a broad bubble forming.”
E*Trade last month fired the wise-cracking baby that served as its pitchman for six years. Still, there are apparently plenty of other “little guys” out there plugging away. Maybe they haven’t read “Flash Boys” yet. Perhaps they’ve been too busy trading. Or maybe they really are babies and don’t know how to read.