A downtrend occurs when the supply (of shares) is greater than the demand. The float of a stock is the total number of shares owned by investors and traders in the marketplace. With the exception of corporate buybacks and secondary offerings, the float of a stock is relatively constant and owned by individuals, institutions, hedge funds, etc. Why do stocks have long uptrends and downtrends? Wyckoff believed that it is a change in the quality of the ownership of the floating supply of stock.