These Were The Most Popular Buys And Sells Among Retail Investors In June

The S&P 500 was largely flat in June, but that didn't stop retail investors from remaining very bullish according to one measurement. 

TD Ameritrade's Investor Movement Index (IMX), which tracks the monthly investment behavior among TD Ameritrade clients, showed that in June, for the fifth month in a row, TDA clients were net buyers of equities. The index also reached an all-time high of 6.58 during the month, indicating that investors are at their most exposed to the stock market since the index began in 2010.

Buying The Tech Dip

Despite the volatility in large-cap tech stocks following a Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS note that suggesting their growth resembled that of the stocks of the 90s tech bubble, TD Ameritrade investors took the drop as a buying opportunity.

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Apple Inc. AAPL, Facebook Inc FB, and Microsoft Corporation FB were all net buys among TDA investors, even though they all experienced a loss of between 4-8 percent during the month. The buying seemed to mimic Wall Street's general sentiment, as most of the those had recovered by the end of the month. 

Other volatile tech stocks that were net buys, apart from the notorious FAAMG stocks, were Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD, which fluctuated sharply throughout June but ended more than 13.5 percent higher by July, and Shopify Inc (US) SHOP, which fell by 7.8 percent over the course of the month. Tesla Inc TSLA also garnered attention as it hit an all-time high during the month. 

Selling Success In Banks And American Airlines

Bank of America Corp BAC and Citigroup Inc C were among those stocks net sold over June. The sell-off in the two banks occurred despite the Federal Funds Rate hike and the fact that all the banks passed the Federal Reserve's stress tests. These events over the course of June led to Bank of America's and Citigroup's stocks rising by 7.5 percent 10.5 percent respectively. 

American Airlines Group Inc AAL, which peaked at a two-year high above $50 and registered a record year-to-date passenger traffic volume in June, also saw profit taking and was a net sell in the month.

Joining the performers among the net sold stocks were also familiar sellers among the consumer brands, including Newell Brands Inc NWL and Bristol-Myers Squibb CoBMY, which both traded flat through the month, and Arconic Inc ARNC which dropped by more than 17.5 percent in June.

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