Key takeaway:

• Reporting season sparked an uptick in tech and bank trade volumes

US shares powered higher throughout July, with the market encouraged by signs that the Federal Reserve is winning its battle against inflation.

Recent data showed that inflation touched its lowest level in more than two years, which has market pundits believing the Fed’s tightening cycle could be nearing an end.

The Dow Jones gained 3.4% across the course of the month, with the S&P 500 advancing 3.1%, and the Nasdaq lifting 4.1%.

This is how the Selfwealth community traded US markets last month.

US share trading activity

The start of earnings season brought about a spike in trades for mega-cap tech stocks.  There were significant month-over-month volume increases for the likes of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), which all reported in July. Already favourites within the Selfwealth community, investors continued to build their positions in these high-profile names, with trades skewed towards buying activity.

It looks like Barbie fever resonated with the Selfwealth crowd, or at least some of our members, with Mattel (NASDAQ: MAT) featuring as the 13th most traded US stock last month. By and large, it was a winning trade for some new holders, with the stock gaining 9%. That followed the box office success of the new Barbie film, which has smashed records around the world and brought expectations of stronger Barbie sales for Mattel in the second half of the year.

Elsewhere, Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) and Nio (NYSE: NIO) were major trades last month after the electric vehicle duo caught interest from an enthusiastic buying base. The pair posted some astonishing gains last month, up 65.9% and 57.9% respectively. Rivian announced better-than-expected deliveries at the start of the month, while its Chinese peer reported an improving result. Both were enough to bring confidence back to the segment. 

Another market segment making a comeback of sorts is the bitcoin market, where volatility has died down somewhat. Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA) were among two of the most actively traded US stocks on the Selfwealth platform last month, albeit trading action was driven by differing levels of conviction.

Top 20 stocks by Trade Number, with Buy-Sell Ratio (%)

1. Tesla 61.4%

2. Microsoft 65.0%

3. Alphabet 66.7%

4. Apple 66.7%

5. Nvidia 61.7%

6. Meta Platforms 56.0%

7. Amazon 67.7%

8. Advanced Micro Devices 67.4%

9. Palantir 62.2%

10. Bank of America 65.7%

11. Walt Disney 73.8%

12. PayPal 69.1%

13. Mattel 94.2%

14. Netflix 46.2%

15. Rivian 70.0%

16. Coinbase 56.4%

17. Nio 53.8%

18. Alibaba 56.8%

19. Berkshire Hathaway 77.1%

20. Marathon Digital 45.7%

Top 10 ETFs by Trade Number, with Buy-Sell Ratio (%)

1. Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares 54.8%

2. Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares 50.0%

3. ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF 57.1%

4. ProShares UltraPro QQQ 60.0%

5. Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF 79.6%

6. Direxion Daily FTSE China Bear 3X Shares 58.3%

7. Bank of Montreal MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN 50.0%

8. Bank of Montreal MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Leveraged ETN 57.6%

9. ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas 56.3%

10. ARK Innovation ETF 65.5%

By value, there were some different inclusions among the most traded US stocks in the Selfwealth community. 

For example, take Carvana (NYSE: CVNA), an online used car retailer. Last month it recorded the third highest amount of money flow for any US stock. A popular short-squeeze favourite, its share price has effectively doubled over the last month, and year-to-date its gains are tracking at more than 1,000%. The company’s second-quarter results also beat expectations, bringing about a significant increase in capital flowing into and out of CVNA.

US banks have attracted large sums of capital over recent months, and in July this extended to a couple other names, including Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). The pair ranked seventh and eighth among the most actively traded stocks by value. A major catalyst for their appearance last month was the fact that both companies reported earnings, and both topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

There was also an outpouring of funds for Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) after the chip manufacturer sounded an upbeat outlook for the personal computer market. The company cited an improvement in demand for computer components, and it seems that was a factor for buyers who put money into the stock.

The top 20 also features special appearances by some new names such as United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL), American Express (NYSE: AXP), and Quantumscape (NYSE: QS).

Top 20 stocks by Trade Value, with Buy-Sell Ratio (%)

1. Bank of America 49.6%

2. Tesla 48.9%

3. Carvana 50.1%

4. Citibank 50.1%

5. Bank of Montreal MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Inverse Leveraged ETN 49.9%

6. Alphabet 51.9%

7. Morgan Stanley 51.0%

8. Wells Fargo 50.0%

9. Intel 56.2%

10. ProShares UltraPro QQQ 50.2%

11. Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares 52.0%

12. Microsoft 55.8%

13. Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares 49.2%

14. Apple 50.5%

15. United Airlines 49.9%

16. American Express 50.3%

17. Bank of Montreal MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Leveraged ETN 50.9%

18. ProShares UltraPro Short S&P500 49.8%

19. Quantumscape 49.6%

20. JPMorgan 49.4%

Which US shares are the most held?

With its shares up nearly 11% in July, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) closed the gap with third-placed Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). The collective value of GOOGL holdings in the Selfwealth community increased 14% last month, whereas Microsoft’s holdings grew by just 2.2%. The latest company to spruik its artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions, Alphabet shares leapt higher when it reported second-quarter earnings late in the month.

Now firmly out of the top 10, GameStop (NYSE: GME) is sitting in 12th position within the Selfwealth community after slipping another spot last month. Community holdings in the video game retailer slimmed down by approximately 10% in July, whereas the Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF (NYSE: VOO) leapfrogged its counterpart thanks to growth of 5.1%.

ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK) moved up two places into 16th position. That was largely a byproduct of a 14.3% gain last month, with tech stocks extending their gains. Year-to-date, the ETF has delivered returns of more than 50%, but that is still not enough to make up for losses that have occurred over the last 12 months.

Last but not least, new capital that went into Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) was enough for the stock to rank 20th last month among the most popular holdings in the Selfwealth community.

US Companies

1. Tesla

2. Apple

3. Microsoft

4. Alphabet

5. Royal Bank of Canada

6. Amazon

7. Berkshire Hathaway

8. Meta Platforms

9. Nvidia

10. Alibaba

11. Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF

12. GameStop

13. Palantir

14. ProShares UltraPro QQQ

15. Advanced Micro Devices

16. ARK Innovation ETF

17. Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1

18. PayPal

19. Enbridge

20. Intel

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