Who's been buying this market? Turns out it's companies themselves. They have bought more than $3 trillion of their own stock since 2009 - dwarfing any other buyer as the biggest ally of the bull market. That may be starting to change as corporate interest has now been in decline over the last year. With new bull market highs it appears that (as is often the case) individuals that have missed much of the rally are now piling in. Often those that are late to the party are left holding the bag.
It should be noted that as corporations have been buying back their stock over the last several years, it serves to prop up their earnings (fewer shares outstanding divided by earnings equals higher earnings per share). We'll see over the coming quarters if these same companies can continue to produce earnings without reducing their shares outstanding.
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