Investor angst crept in late last month as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled to the market that the US central bank is committed to do whatever it takes to put downward pressure on inflation, even if there may be some pain for the economy.

Each of the leading benchmark indexes in the US fell sharply over the final days of the month, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones both off by 4.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lagging even further behind, ending the month down 4.6%. These performances were the worst for any August over the last seven years.

Which US stocks are the most popular in the Selfwealth community right now? Let take a look.

US share trading activity

Once again, US bank stocks remain one of the key trading themes within the Selfwealth community. The nature of these trades has largely been short-term trading, with August seeing over US$25 million worth of shares traded in the likes of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), and Citibank (NYSE: C), yet none of these names feature among the most held US stocks on the Selfwealth platform. The quartet occupied positions four through to seven in terms of most traded names during August.Meanwhile, American merchandise retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) made its first ever appearance among the most traded US stocks. August was a huge month for the stock, with shares soaring around 90%, but at one stage the gains were as high as 500% for the month. 

The stunning rally in BBBY last month was due exclusively to a short squeeze in the company shares driven by Reddit investors. At the start of August, 103% of the company float was being sold short, sparking the attention of forums like WallStretBets, and seemingly investors from the Selfwealth community as well.

From the middle of the month, however, BBBY shares went into a tailspin as investors digested news that activist investor Ryan Cohen had sold his stake in the business, while a late-month update did little to arrest the sudden downturn.

Last month weakness across the market also brought in long-term investors keen to buy the dip' in certain names, with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) one of the prime beneficiaries. It was the ninth most traded stock on the Selfwealth platform in August, and nearly two-thirds of all trades by value were purchases. This was only beaten by another tech favourite in Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), with both stocks down around 7% for the month. Whereas traders and investors were keen to buy the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas (NYSE: BOIL) and United States Oil ETF (NYSE: USO) in July, only the latter featured among the top 20 most traded US shares in August. Even then, selling activity outweighed buying over the course of the month. 

With oil prices trading sideways for most of August, before dipping sharply in the final days, it appears some Selfwealth members are keen to follow the price action. With natural gas prices surging at the start of September, which is in response to Russia Gazprom indefinitely suspending gas supplies to Europe via its main pipeline, it remains to be seen whether Selfwealth members will follow the action back into gas-related ETFs.

Top 20 stocks traded by valueCode SecurityBuy-sell Ratio1SQQQProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF50.2%2TQQQProShares UltraPro QQQ50.2%3AAPLApple48.6%4BACBank of America49.0%5JPMJPMorgan49.1%6WFCWells Fargo & Co48.7%7CCitibank48.5%8MSFTMicrosoft48.9%9TSLATesla66.8%10BBBYBed, Bath and Beyond53.8%11USOUnited States Oil ETF46.2%12RDFNRedfin49.9%13AMZNAmazon55.6%14GOOGLAlphabet68.3%15PYPLPayPal40.1%16NVDANvidia50.9%17OPENOpendoor Technologies43.7%18SARKAXS Short Innovation Daily ETF45.3%19SNAPSnap51.4%20UVXYProShares Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF51.4%

Which US shares are the most held?

With US markets largely showcasing broad-based weakness last month, the vast majority of top holdings in the community decreased in value across the course of the month. 

In total, 18 out of the top 20 most held US shares on the Selfwealth platform decreased in value, while the two that managed to see an uptick in values were new names to join the cohort of leaders. 

Across the group, the total value of holdings eased by 5.7%, which was only slightly more than the performance of the market at large. The top 20 is still very tech-centric, with tech thematics accounting for about 74% of the value of all holdings among the leading cohort. This includes stalwarts like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), but also the likes of the ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK).Of the two additions to the list, one was the ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF (NASDAQ: SQQQ), which suggests there is certainly a segment of the Selfwealth community that believe US share markets will continue to slide over the near term.On the other hand, Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) enters the top 20, taking out the final position among the leading names. Its cause was helped by the fact that the underlying stock increased by 5.6% throughout the course of August, one of the few high profile companies outside the energy sector to post a positive result for the month. 

The catalyst for renewed interest in Disney shares was its fiscal third-quarter earnings, which exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom line. Disney+ subscriptions topped 152 million during the quarter, defying concerns about a saturated digital streaming market. 

Combined with its ownership of Hulu and ESPN+, Disney video streaming Group now has more subscribers than household favourite Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), a fact that may surprise many observers. At the same time, the company theme parks are seeing a resurgence in consumer spending, with revenue up more than 70% versus a year ago. And it not just a favourable comparison with last year reduced foot traffic, with per capita spending up 40% versus FY19.US StockCompany1TSLATesla2AAPLApple3RYRoyal Bank of Canada4MSFTMicrosoft5GOOGLAlphabet6AMZNAmazon7GMEGameStop8BRKBerkshire Hathaway9BABAAlibaba10VOOVanguard 500 Index Fund ETF11METAMeta Platforms12NVDANvidia13ENBEnbridge14ARKKARK Innovation ETF15PLTRPalantir16BCEBCE17SQQQProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF18AMDAdvanced Micro Devices19PYPLPayPal20DISWalt Disney

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