New Delhi, Aug. 31 -- Ticker is a weekly newsletter by Vijay L. Bhambwani. Subscribe to Mint's newsletters to get them directly in your email inbox.

Dear reader,

Last week when I wrote follow up buying was still lacking it may have surprised some of you since the markets were appearing cheerful. As I peel layer after layer of statistical data it is increasingly evident that this cheerfulness is built on an inadequate and/or faulty foundation. Retail traders are also showing signs of recklessness since they are throwing caution to the winds. That is borne by the statistical data which points towards retail players averaging many of their losing positions.

If the retail investor is running out of money, he is resorting to borrowing from ...