Retail traders cash in on market rally
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Americans with spare cash love nothing more than shopping, and that includes snapping up stocks when they go on sale.
Why it matters: Retail investors rushed to buy the dip when the stock market plunged following the announcement of President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs on April 2.
- Given where the market stands now, it seems they were right to do so.
Flashback: On April 4, when China escalated the trade war and the S&P 500 plunged 6%, retail traders invested $4.7 billion into the market, per JPMorgan, the largest daily inflow for a decade.
- That $4.7 billion, if it was invested in an S&P 500 index fund at the closing level for the day, would be worth $5.5 billion today, a gain of 16%.
- Overall, retail spending on stocks hit $40 billion in April, JPMorgan calculates, the largest monthly inflow on record.
- Goldman Sachs confirms that two-week flows also hit new highs, beating records set in the pandemic rebound, per Marc Rubinstein at Bloomberg.
Between the lines: Big tech stocks like Tesla, Nvidia, Tesla and Palantir are perennially at or near the top of the list of the most popular stocks for retail investors, and saw a large proportion of the inflows.
- "Buying activity far outpaced selling activity among our most active names during the downturn," Interactive Brokers chief strategist Steve Sosnick tells Axios.
- "It is evident that many active traders are steadfast in their commitment to treat every dip as a buying opportunity," he adds, "and once again they were vindicated."
- "Many also enjoy chasing rallies, and considering the length and breadth of this one, that too is working for them."
The bottom line: Dip buying proved highly profitable in 2009, 2020 and now in 2025. This time, it seems, at least for now, isn't so different after all.
