Retail investors are ditching riskier crypto bets in favor of ETFs, says WSJ's Gunjan Banerji

Retail Investor Activity - Retail investors have been exceptionally active in the markets this year, showing unprecedented levels of participation [2] - Individual investors are heavily invested in broad-based ETFs like SPY (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) and gold [2] - Retail investors are sticking with the AI trade, despite institutional investors expressing doubts [3] Leverage and Risk - Retail investors are increasingly leveraging their investments [3] - Brokerage account leverage has surpassed $1.1 trillion, reaching record highs since the 1990s [4] - Leveraged ETFs have assets exceeding $140 billion [6] - Leveraged crypto trades have suffered losses recently [6][7] Market Performance and Sentiment - Individual investors who have been cautious are likely feeling positive about the market's performance, with the S&P 500 up 15% [8] - The US market has delivered blockbuster returns over the past two years, with a 15% increase this year [9][10] - Some investors are selling hot momentum stocks like Microstrategy, Robinhood, and Palantir, which are down double digits [11]