If one did a proper research, made more exact daily/weekly/monthly/yearly charts and would compare it to Market cap/number of transactions and other dimensions, you would see very strong links. Because that what the actual market was looking for.
You would be able to filter the fake stock market money/ large daily trades and more, when you get the comparable dimensions right.
Maybe. Unless you had a few large institutions enter the market... I think the stats you are looking at are a decent indicator of retail involvement.