TD Ameritrade's Investor Movement Index: Clients Were Net Buyers of Equities in January
February 08 2016 - 12:30PM
Business Wire
Overall market volatility paired with relative
stability of some widely held positions counteracted client buying
to lower IMX score
TD Ameritrade, Inc. (“TD Ameritrade”), a broker-dealer
subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (Nasdaq:AMTD), is
today releasing the Investor Movement Index® reading for January
2016. The Investor Movement Index, or the IMXSM, is a proprietary,
behavior-based index created by TD Ameritrade that aggregates Main
Street investor positions and activity to measure what investors
are actually doing and how they are positioned in the markets.
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View the full release here:
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The January 2016 Investor Movement Index for the four weeks
ending January 29, 2016, reveals:
- Reading: 4.52 (compared to 4.92 in
December)
- Trend direction: Negative
- Trend length: 1 month
- Score relative to historic ranges:
Middle
The IMX decreased to 4.52 in January while the S&P 500
plunged lower, having its worst start to a year since 2010.
TD Ameritrade clients were net buyers of equities in January,
activity that usually helps to increase an account’s relative
exposure to the market. This month, however, an increase in overall
market volatility coupled with the relative stability of some
widely held positions resulted in a decrease in the IMX
reading.
“The equity market decline in January made for a rough month for
many investors,” said Nicole Sherrod, managing director of trading
at TD Ameritrade. “There’s no shortage of factors for investors to
weigh as they determine how to move forward. However, many of our
clients seized the decline in the broad markets as a buying
opportunity in some of their favorite companies. We saw net buying
in dividend paying and lower volatility stocks.”
Volatility of the S&P 500 as measured by the VIX remained
elevated throughout January, never closing below 19. For context,
the VIX’s average closing price in 2015 was around 17. This
volatility translated into lower prices, as both the S&P 500
and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 6% during the
January IMX period. Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial
Average fell back to August 2015 levels, when markets saw a sharp
decline. The other major market indices also declined, with the
Russell 2000 losing about 10% — driving it to values not seen since
2013 — while the NASDAQ Composite was off more than 8%. Global
economic concerns, including sharp sell offs in the Chinese stock
market that triggered circuit breakers and halts to trading, seemed
to drag the markets lower. An increase in crude oil supply put
pressure on the price of that commodity, which seemed to affect the
stock markets adversely. As stock markets plunged, treasury bonds
rallied indicating a flight to safety. Dividend paying stocks
seemed to also outperform the broad equity markets as indicated by
the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index.
January earnings announcements seemed to draw some attention
within TD Ameritrade client accounts. Facebook Inc. (FB) and Apple
Inc. (AAPL) both announced earnings in January and were net buys.
Facebook’s share price surged after it beat expectations in both
earnings and revenue. Netflix.com (NFLX), which announced a global
expansion of its streaming video offering earlier than expected,
was also a net buy in January. Dividend payers were also popular
net buys. AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Inc. (VZ) and Ford Motor
Company (F) all have relatively high dividend yields and were net
buys during the most recent IMX period as well.
Despite being net buyers of equities overall, there were some
companies that TD Ameritrade clients net sold in January. Yahoo!
(YHOO) traded down towards a level of support around $28 per share
in January and was net sold. The company has been in the news
recently after abandoning its plan to spin off its stake in Alibaba
Holding Group (BABA), which was also net sold in January. Alibaba’s
shares have been down amid concerns about the Chinese economy.
Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR) was another popular name that saw net
selling. The company’s share price has been tightly range bound
since early December when a merger was announced that would take
the company private.
The IMX value is calculated based on a complex proprietary
formula. Each month, TD Ameritrade pulls a sample from its client
base of 6 million funded accounts that includes all accounts that
completed a trade in the past month. The holdings and positions of
this statistically significant sample are evaluated to calculate
individual scores, and the median of those scores represents the
monthly IMX.
For more information on the Investor Movement Index, including
historical IMX data going back to December 2010, to view the full
report from January 2016, or to sign up for future IMX news alerts,
please visit www.tdameritrade.com/IMX. Additionally, TD Ameritrade
clients can chart the IMX using the symbol $IMX in either the
thinkorswim® or TD Ameritrade Mobile Trader platforms.
Inclusion of specific security names in this commentary does not
constitute a recommendation from TD Ameritrade to buy, sell, or
hold.
Past performance of a security, strategy or index is no
guarantee of future results or investment success.
Historical data should not be used alone when making investment
decisions. Please consult other sources of information and consider
your individual financial position and goals before making an
independent investment decision.
The IMX is not a tradable index. The IMX should not be used as
an indicator or predictor of future client trading volume or
financial performance for TD Ameritrade.
For the latest TD Ameritrade news and information, follow the
Company on Twitter, @TDAmeritradePR.
Source: TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation
About TD Ameritrade Holding CorporationMillions of
investors and independent registered investment advisors (RIAs)
have turned to TD Ameritrade’s (Nasdaq: AMTD) technology, people
and education to help make investing and trading easier to
understand and do. Online or over the phone. In a branch or with an
independent RIA. First-timer or sophisticated trader. Our clients
want to take control, and we help them decide how — bringing Wall
Street to Main Street for more than 40 years. An official sponsor
of the 2014 and 2016 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams, TD
Ameritrade has time and again been recognized as a leader in
investment services. Please visit TD Ameritrade’s newsroom or
www.amtd.com for more information.
Brokerage services provided by TD Ameritrade, Inc., member
FINRA (www.FINRA.org)/SIPC (www.SIPC.org)
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160208005974/en/
TD Ameritrade Holding CorporationFor Media:Beth Evegan,
201-369-5930Communications & Public
Affairsbeth.evegan@tdameritrade.com@TDAmeritradePRorFor
Investors:Jeff Goeser, 402-597-8464Investor Relations &
Financejeffrey.goeser@tdameritrade.com
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