Although US stock market indexes at one stage entered bear market territory, and even notched up a decade-plus streak for consecutive weekly negative returns, the market found some momentum late in the month.

Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones managed to trade flat across the month, while the Nasdaq finished 2.1% lower after being down almost 9%. 

Ongoing uncertainty about the state of the world largest economy has continued to weigh on the market, with investors trying to make sense of soaring inflation, an aggressive rate hike cycle, and the possibility of what could be a double-dip recession.

What did the swings and roundabouts bring to the Selfwealth community last month?

US share trading activity

One of the biggest moves last month came in the form of a big increase in trading of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares. Although third in terms of the most actively-traded US stock by value, Apple leapfrogged community favourite Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). What more, the value of AAPL shares traded jumped sixfold compared with the month prior, albeit the balance of buy-to-sell activity fell from 62.8% to 53%. During May the stock reached a seven-month low, bringing in buying support, but also triggering sell orders as the stock breached key technical thresholds on at least two occasions.Electric vehicle maker Nio (NYSE: NIO) was one of the other stocks trending last month. There was a 170% month-on-month increase in the value of NIO shares traded, moving the stock into fifth spot among those with the most trading activity. One of the catalysts sparking interest was a report that the company has signed an agreement with an economic development zone in Hefei, China, to construct a new development plant for an upmarket marque range.Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) also traded heavily last month, with the value of shares exchanging hands up 166% versus the month prior. Shares in Microsoft were circling a 52-week low last month, which may have prompted elevated interest, not to mention a bias towards buying activity. On the other hand, the above increases were at odds with the likes of Meta (NASDAQ: FB) and Square (NYSE: SQ). Despite both stocks sitting well off their highs, trading dried up significantly. This suggests that shareholders and observers with an eye on Meta and Square could be waiting for a clear signal on what next, while many investors who wanted to sell out of these names, may have done so already.Elsewhere, Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) made an appearance on the list of the most traded stocks, with the company beating earnings expectations at the start of the month, only to come into focus when news emerged it would close its domestic operations in China. Volatile gold prices and concerns about inflation underpinned above-average trading activity in the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX), which is a benchmark for diversified gold miners.Top 20 stocks traded by valueCode SecurityBuy-sell Ratio1SQQQProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF50.0%2TQQQProShares UltraPro QQQ50.8%3AAPLApple53.0%4TSLATesla75.9%5NIONio50.2%6MSFTMicrosoft54.2%7GOOGLAlphabet55.1%8OPENOpendoor Technologies53.0%9AMZNAmazon78.9%10UVXYProShares Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF48.5%11NVDANvidia56.6%12ABNBAirbnb51.2%13GDXVanEck Gold Miners ETF42.2%14AMCAMC Entertainment54.1%15AMDAdvanced Micro Devices49.3%16GMEGameStop57.6%17SIGASIGA Technologies49.5%18YINNDirexion Daily FTSE China Bull 3x Shares51.4%19FBFacebook69.6%20SQBlock53.5%

Which US shares are the most held?

Tech remains the overriding theme across the Selfwealth community, with the most popular stocks held by investors at odds with the exposure seen via the ASX, where tech has very little presence.

Nonetheless, the top US holdings come from the following sectors:

• Technology (11)

• Financials (4)

• ETFs (2)

• Consumer Discretionary (1)

• Telecommunications (1)

• Energy (1)

From technology, it is predominantly mega-cap stocks that are featured regularly in Selfwealth members' portfolios. Names like Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) have barely moved from the list of leading stocks over the last year. This comes despite the sector being out of favour in 2022, with the S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index down 20.1% year-to-date.On the other hand, while energy prices have traded at multi-year highs during the first half of 2022, Selfwealth members have for the most part refrained from taking on exposure to oil stocks, even though the US stock market plays host to a number of majors. There is just one energy stock, Enbridge (NYSE: ENB), which is among the most popular US holdings, and it offers exposure to the booming oil and gas industry.Meanwhile, software firm Palantir (NYSE: PLTR) dropped to 17th position among the most held US stocks. Once a consistent top 10 holding, the stock is down nearly 70% from its one-year high recorded in September last year. The tech sell-off has largely put a dent in the company stock price, but it has also struggled in the wake of slowing growth across its government business. Palantir government business has often been cited as the backbone of its operations, but with more competition emerging, investors have punished the stock.In terms of where money flow performed strongest, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and GameStop (NYSE: GME) both achieved relative outperformance last month. Shares in semiconductor firm Nvidia were up fractionally by 0.7% in May, but the value of total holdings in NVDA grew 9% as investors took advantage of a yearly low. Similarly, GameStop share price eased 0.3% across the course of the month, but buyers flocked in, ensuring holdings in the Selfwealth community increased 8.5%.US StockCompany1TSLATesla2AAPLApple3RYRoyal Bank of Canada4MSFTMicrosoft5GMEGameStop6GOOGLAlphabet7AMZNAmazon8BABAAlibaba9BRK.BBerkshire Hathaway10FBMeta11NVDANvidia12VOOVanguard 500 Index Fund ETF13ENBEnbridge14ARKKARK Innovation ETF15BCEBCE16AMDAdvanced Micro Devices17PLTRPalantir18BNSBank of Nova Scotia19TDBank of Montreal20PYPLPayPal

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