Americans have dumped $2 trillion dollars of stocks, according to a recent article from Business Insider.  Tom Lee of Fundstrat said in a note to clients this month, that “there has been a substantial liquidation of equity ownership, most notably in direct ownership of stocks.” Americans have been burned by two serious drawdowns in the stock market since 2000. Lee also observed “The largest decline has been direct ownership of stocks (down $2 trillion) and this reflects the buyback programs of US corporates.” The article reminds us that when retail investors are hit by recessions as debilitating as the last, it takes longer than normal to rejoin the market. This data is also backed up by a recent Gallup Poll, which showed that only 52% of Americans said they owned US stocks. That figure matches the “the lowest ownership rate in Gallup’s 19-year trend.”