New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- Dear reader,

Last week, I wrote that the markets were headed towards a tipping point that would determine near-term trends. Bulls failed to revive sentiments, and the markets fell for the sixth week in a row. I have not seen this sequence of weekly declines for multiple years. Big money has been unwinding their positions, and retail buyers are trying to absorb the supply, with limited results.

The retail segment continues to display signs of a bullish hangover and is buying the dips in reflex action. That is validated by the fact that retail borrowing in the MTF (margin funded trading-money lent by brokers to invest in stocks) has fallen by a mere 0.73% after expiry of the July series. Market-wide position limits (...