TD Ameritrade's Investor Movement Index: Clients Were Net Sellers of Equities in March
April 04 2016 - 12:30PM
Business Wire
Equity market volatility declined during the
March IMX period
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 March
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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TD Ameritrade's IMX vs. S&P 500
(Photo: TD Ameritrade).
The March 2016 Investor Movement Index for the four weeks ending
March 25, 2016, reveals:
- Reading: 4.33 (compared to 4.44 in
February)
- Trend direction: Negative
- Trend length: 3 months
- Score relative to historic ranges:
Moderately Low
The IMX decreased to 4.33 as clients were net sellers.
Equity market volatility declined as the markets rallied during
the March IMX period. Many of the widely held positions in TD
Ameritrade client accounts saw their volatility relative to the
overall equity market remain stable or decline slightly. This
activity, coupled with net selling of equities, resulted in a
decrease in the IMX.
The major equity market indices all saw gains during the March
IMX period. The S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite, and Russell 2000
each gained around 4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was
up more than 5%. The gains in the equity market coincided with
reduced market volatility. The VIX, which measures the volatility
of the S&P 500, trended downward throughout the month and, near
the end of the period, closed below 14 for the first time since
before the spike in volatility that occurred in late August 2015.
Crude oil prices also rallied in March, closing the period near a
year-to-date high. The commodity also briefly traded above $40 a
barrel for the first time since early December. The March meeting
of the Federal Reserve Board resulted in no change to the target of
their key rate, and the equity markets appeared to anticipate the
lack of change: Overall market volatility saw little change upon
the announcement.
“Clients were net buyers over the last few months while their
core positions saw relatively lower volatility than the broad U.S.
equity market which had been under pressure,” said Nicole Sherrod,
managing director of trading, TD Ameritrade. “Equity markets have
since rallied over the last month or so to near year-to-date highs.
It appears that many clients treated the rally as an opportunity to
sell equities and dial back their exposure.”
Despite being net sellers of equities overall, TD Ameritrade
clients did find some names to buy in March. Chesapeake Energy
Corp. (CHK) and Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) were both net buys in the
basic materials sector. Kinder Morgan has been largely range bound
after setting a year-to-date high in February. Chesapeake Energy
has rebounded from a low set in February when the price of crude
oil hit a new low. Walt Disney Co. (DIS) is widely held at TD
Ameritrade and has been a popular net buy with TD Ameritrade
clients in recent months as the stock has been under pressure.
Recently the stock price of Walt Disney Co. (DIS) has been range
bound as volatility has declined. Facebook Inc. (FB), which is also
widely held by TD Ameritrade clients, has trended upward since
mid-February after its earnings announcement. The stock has
rebounded to near its 52-week high and was also a net buy in
March.
Retailers in the service sector Ali Baba Holdings (BABA) and
Target Corp. (TGT) were both net sold in March. Both have rebounded
from lows in February, with Target nearly reaching its 52-week
high. United States Steel Corp. (X) is another name that has
recently seen a rebound in price and was net sold by TD Ameritrade
clients. The stock had been range bound since November but moved
sharply higher following the announcement of tariffs on some
Chinese steel imports. JC Penney Co. (JCP) was net sold after it
posted better-than-expected earnings in late February and saw its
share price reach a new 52-week high in March.
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 March 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/20160404006235/en/
TD Ameritrade Holding CorporationFor Media:Beth Evegan,
859-331-2391Communications & Public
Affairsbeth.evegan@tdameritrade.com@TDAmeritradePRorFor
Investors:Jeff Goeser, 402-597-8464Investor Relations &
Financejeffrey.goeser@tdameritrade.com
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