Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.
The Markets May 3, 2011
Active Traders Show Market Optimism
The latest Charles Schwab Active Trader Sentiment Survey found that
72% of traders who are expecting a tax refund this year plan on
investing at least some of it.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
More than a quarter of respondents (28%) say they will put the entire refund into their investment portfolios.
According to a press release, overall optimism about market conditions hit its highest level since the end of 2009. Nearly half of those traders surveyed (47%) said they are currently bullish, compared to 38% last November and up from just 28% in April 2010.
Optimism about the market appears to be pushing traders into action. One in four (25%) recently changed their portfolio allocation to include less cash. And more than two-thirds (69%) plan to make more than 36 trades this year.
More than three quarters (77%) consider market volatility a friend versus a foe, up from 71% in November 2010.
Traders surveyed are most bullish on the technology sector (36%), followed by materials (26%) and financials (13%). Only 4% of traders said the energy sector looked most promising to them and just 1% identified commodities as the sector they were optimistic about.
Roughly half (49%) of respondents own foreign stocks mostly through American Depository Reciepts (ADRs) or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), down from 56% in November, possibly reflecting the crisis in Japan and continued unrest in the Middle East.
Traders said an easy-to-use trading platform (26%) was most important to them, followed closely by access to research (25%) and cost (20%).
Charles Schwab surveyed 653 active traders and investors (those who trade at least 36 times per year) from March – April 2011.