Traders on r/RealDayTrading are still debating why “this market continues to grind higher,” and skeptics are seeing a side few analysts want to acknowledge. One user summed it up:
“Even better is to slowly grind higher while waiting for that one trade to finally pay off”
https://www.reddit.com/r/RealDayTrading/comments/1m8bi3n/why_this_market_continues_to_grind_higher/
That’s the sub’s take: slow and steady gains create the illusion of strength, waiting for a breakout like META to make players look prescient. It reflects a broader sentiment that retail investors and meme stock hype are propping up prices, not actual fundamentals.
Other traders warn against trusting retail exuberance alone. A wave of meme stocks in July—shares like Kohl’s, GoPro, Krispy Kreme—roared on social media but pulled back by session’s end.
https://www.reuters.com/business/meme-stock-surge-underlines-market-froth-mostly-centred-retail-investors-2025-07-24/
That aligns with the r/RealDayTrading crowd: they see retail behavior—not real earnings—as fueling short squeezes. And the long grind sideways is the calm before volatility.
Here’s what most headlines miss:
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This is retail-driven upward pressure, built on social contagion and hype cycles rather than steady earnings, reminiscent of WSB-era frenzies.
https://www.ft.com/content/75a27b2b-fb9f-40fc-8a3d-76b608e600ac -
The Goldman Sachs index of most-shorted stocks is up sharply, signaling risk of retail-driven squeezes before any real breakout fundamentals appear.
https://www.reuters.com/business/meme-stock-surge-underlines-market-froth-mostly-centred-retail-investors-2025-07-24/ -
The Reddit thread term “grind higher” is less bullish and more cautious: an admission that retail is carrying the market until something big finally breaks out.
The uncomfortable truth? This isn’t broad investor conviction. It’s a plodding rally powered by chatter, gamma squeezes, and retail psychology. When the catalyst finally hits, up or down, market behavior could flip hard in either direction.