A $1-trillion buying spree lets S&P 500 brush off bear warnings

Market watchers have heard the warnings over and over. Stocks are expensive. Growth is set to slow. Higher taxes and hawkish monetary policy loom as threats. Yet there’s a mighty force pushing back against all the bearish voices: buyers who keep on buying.

Demand is up across the board, from die-hard day traders piling into meme stocks, to exchange-traded funds and even once-cautious hedge funds now raising leverage to boost exposure. With dip buyers seemingly ready to jump in at every pullback, the S&P 500 Index has gone seven months without a 5 per cent drawdown — the longest stretch of