Source: Zhitong Finance APP
A survey of traders by financial services firm Charles Schwab found that more than half of respondents expect a major correction in U.S. stocks in the second quarter of this year, while fewer than one-third of traders believe stocks will perform well.
“Overall, the sentiment among traders was definitely bearish in the second quarter,” said Barry Metzger, head of trading and education at Charles Schwab.
The survey found that inflation is the biggest worry for traders. A majority (68%) expect inflation to ease by 2024, while 32% expect it to subside in 2024 or later.
Among them, 32% of traders said they chose real estate as a hedge against inflation, 20% chose gold, and 18% chose cryptocurrencies or related products. And 44% of traders are not hedged against inflation risk.
In addition, more than half of traders expect that US stocks will have a “Russian Bear” by the end of 2022, that is, under the influence of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the major stock indexes (Dow Jones, S&P, Nasdaq) will be in It fell into a bear market by the end of the year. And among those traders who expected a bear market triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, 60% expected a moderate 10%-20% decline in stocks, 23% expected a 1%-10% decline, and the rest believed The stock market will drop more than 20%.
To hedge geopolitical risk, 28% of respondents turned assets into cash, 15% bought gold, 11% bought cryptocurrencies, 8% pulled out of emerging markets, and 48% did not hedge Geopolitical Risk.
Still, despite the pessimistic market sentiment, these traders still see investment opportunities in the stock market. Respondents are most bullish on energy (70%), utilities (54%), materials (51%) and healthcare (51%), with consumer discretionary (51%), real estate (50%), The IT (40%) and financial sectors (36%) are the most pessimistic.
At the transactional thematic level, they see opportunities in cybersecurity (71%), defense contracting (70%), agriculture (57%), artificial intelligence (56%) and renewable energy (55%) Driving a car (28%), space economy (26%), online gaming (24%) and ESG (22%) are the most pessimistic.
In addition, the Investor Mobility Index (IMX) compiled by TD Ameritrade, a brokerage arm of Charles Schwab, also showed bearish sentiment. Statistics showed that the index fell to 6.33 in April from 6.42 in March. The company said the readings for the five-week period ending April 29, 2022 were “moderate” compared to the historical average.
The continued volatility in stocks in April was not surprising, Metzger said, as “market expectations for rate hikes are changing rapidly.”
However, Shawn Cruz, chief trading strategist at TD Ameritrade, said: “Despite the overall decline in interest in market exposure, TD Ameritrade’s clients remained net buyers in April, with interest in the consumer staples, materials, healthcare and utilities sectors. There are fewer sales.”
Among them, popular stocks to buy in April include $Amazon(AMZN.US)$ , $Google-C(GOOG.US)$ , $Nvidia(NVDA.US)$ , $Twitter(TWTR.US)$ and $Ford Auto (F.US)$ . Top stocks to sell include Chevron (CVX.US)$ , Nucor (NUE.US)$ , U.S. Steel (X.US)$ , General Electric (GE.US)$ and $US Aviation (AAL.US)$ .
TD Ameritrade’s millennial clients were most keen to buy $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ and sold $Nokia (NOK.US)$ and cybersecurity firm $CrowdStrike (CRWD.US)$ .
It is understood that the trader sentiment survey mainly studies Schwab and TD Ameritrade traders (including traders who made more than 80 stock trades, more than 12 options trades, or traded futures or foreign exchange in a year) on the market. Outlook, expectations, trading patterns and views. The survey was conducted April 6-17, 2022, among 845 Schwab and TD Ameritrade trader clients, aged 18 to 75.
edit/new
This article is reprinted from: https://news.futunn.com/post/15567438?src=3&report_type=market&report_id=205749&futusource=news_headline_list
This site is for inclusion only, and the copyright belongs to the original author.