Key takeaways: 

• Total money flow in the two most actively traded US stocks by value was at a near two-year high. 

• Outside of tech, Berkshire Hathaway was one of the strongest names from February. 

• It is important to do your own research before making decisions about investing. 

• Past returns are not an indicator of future performance. 

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This article was produced 7 March 2025. 

As investors grappled with earnings season, geopolitics, and policy uncertainty, US indices went backwards throughout February. 

The S&P 500 fell 1.4%, the Dow Jones slipped 1.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite fared the worst, recording a 4% decline for the month. Tech stocks were the hardest hit, with a “risk-off” sentiment prevailing over the market. 

However, the Selfwealth community paid close attention to several technology names, with trading interest centred on this sector. Here is a recap of last month’s major trading trends for US shares. 

US share trading activity 

Trades in electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) more than doubled over the month, with buying conviction also remaining strong. Nearly two-thirds of all trades were buys last month, coming in at a level not seen since August last year.  

One of the worst performing stocks on the S&P 500 through February, Tesla shed nearly 28% of its market cap. That came as European vehicle registration data showed a 45% drop in Tesla registrations across the region during January, when compared with a year ago.  

In third spot, Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR) enjoyed a bumper level of trading activity, with trade volumes up 93% over the month. While the software analytics firm enjoyed a strong run of support through 2024, the stock entered March roughly one-third off its record high as the market shied away from growth stocks during the final third of the month.  

While a majority of last month’s PLTR trades on the Selfwealth platform were buys, the buy-to-sell ratio declined 4.9 percentage points, which suggests some investors may have taken profits. 

With its share price sinking 16.2% last month, investors stepped up their interest in Google parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL). Over the month, trade volumes rose 62.8%, while buying conviction surged 9.7 percentage points to a buy-to-sell ratio of 68.5%. The sell-off started when the company reported a slowdown in cloud growth and plans to spend US$75 billion in capex this year as it looks to boost its AI capabilities. 

Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) posted the lowest buy-to-sell ratio of any name in the top 20 at 32.9%, which was also one of the lowest ever for any given top 20 stock on the Selfwealth platform. Somewhat ironically, the ‘bearish’ sentiment coincided with a strong rally in Alibaba’s share price, which surged 34.1% through the month. Further scrutiny of the data shows that some long-term investors cut their losses as the stock touched a more than three-year high. 

Volatility was a pressing theme that supported trading interest in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), which was the 17th most traded US stock last month. The stock was trading as much as 41% higher at one stage, before month-end returns settled at 22.1%. INTC shares were helped by comments from the US government promoting local chip design and manufacturing for advanced AI systems. 

Finally, six out of every ten trades in Reddit (NYSE: RDDT) were attributable to buyers, even as the stock lost 19% over the month. That downturn followed the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report, where the growth rate for daily active unique users moderated against the preceding quarter. 

Trades more than doubled in the ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (NYSE: UVXY), with the fund’s buy-to-sell ratio across the Selfwealth community up 9.2 percentage points to 58.0%. 

That trend likely foreshadowed growing expectations among investors about the prospect of an increase in volatility amid various uncertainties including trade tariffs, as well as the inflation and interest rate outlook. 

Both Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X Shares (NASDAQ: TSLL) and the GraniteShares 2x Long NVDA Daily ETF (NASDAQ: NVDL) saw increases in their respective buy-to-sell ratios, which aligns with the strong conviction witnessed for the head stocks tracked by these two funds. Please undertake your own research and note past returns are not an indicator of future returns.

The total value of all Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) trades last month surged more than $80 million, equivalent to a 68.2% increase in money flow. Already a favourite in the Selfwealth community, investors were likely positioning ahead of the semiconductor giant’s earnings report at the end of February. 

Aside from a major increase in trade volumes, money flow in Tesla also jumped markedly, growing 166% over the corresponding figure from January. 

A month after emerging on the radars of Selfwealth investors, Hims & Hers Health (NYSE: HIMS), which focuses on weight loss treatments, moved one spot higher into sixth position. Total trade values in HIMS rose approximately 21%, however, buying conviction fell 6.9 percentage points as sentiment partially soured. Late in the month, HIMS shares plunged 22% as it announced plans to transition customers to alternative weight loss products. 

Other stocks making an impression in the community last month were Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) and Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI), in seventh and 14th places respectively. 

However, conviction levels in the pair varied substantially, with more than 90% of money flow in HOOD related to buying activity yet selling activity accounting for most of the money flow in SMCI.  

Which US shares are the most held? 

Considering the significant share price decline for Tesla last month, community holdings in the automaker dropped sharply, down 29.4% over the month. That was the single largest monthly decline recorded for TSLA holdings on the Selfwealth platform. 

Elsewhere, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) reclaimed its grip on third spot from Alphabet, albeit this was largely on account of the notable share price decline for the latter, which in turn fed a 16.6% drop in the value of all GOOGL holdings in the community. 

For similar reasons, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) moved back ahead of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Shares in the latter fell 10.7% last month, while Selfwealth investors’ holdings shrunk by 14.5% in value. That followed results from the company showing slowing growth for its cloud division. 

Bucking the trend, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) shares gained nearly 10% last month, which flowed directly through to an equivalent increase in the value of all BRK shares on the platform. As a result, BRK moved one spot higher into ninth position.  

The conglomerate’s share price hit a record high last month after unveiling its highest-ever quarterly profit. Overall, quarterly profit rose 71% to US$14.5 billion, with full-year profit totalling US$47.4 billion. A particular highlight of the report was an improvement in Berkshire’s insurance division. 

That’s all for this Trade Trends report, stay tuned for the next edition this time next month!