I know what happened to the average investor. They used to not be able to see alll the dirty inner workings of the market. I have guys that I know used to work on the trading floors who have told me some crazy things about workin in the pits. Well the electronic game comes along with level 2 and now your station is the pit... And when someone sees a group suffer they crank up the pressure. Couple that with the last recession where ppl didn't manage there funds well and the fear brought on by the flash crash.... which by the way I lost NO money on and was heavily invested....Boils down to one thing Fear! A panicky chopppy market place. But had ppl just put money in good companies like oh AAPL or C in 08 post crash or jpm post crash or just even going long the dollar a few months months ago I guarantee they would see nothing is different in the market. ALL THE SAME. Some days the market gives you a good stock at a bad price. Somedays the market gives you a good stock at a great price... Which day is today hmmmm.