Key Takeaways

• Retail investors have lately preferred single stocks to ETFs, which may signal optimism about the markets.

• Nvidia has been the most popular single stock among retail investors, amounting to more than $1.1 billion worth of net purchases between Oct. 17 and Oct. 23.

• Retail investors have also invested in Tesla, major tech stocks—and Donald Trump's media company's shares.
  

Retail investors have been buying up Nvidia (NVDA) and favoring single stocks over exchange-traded funds lately. That could indicate optimism about the markets.

According to Vanda Research, which tracks investment flows from retail buyers and sellers, net retail purchases of Nvidia totaled more than $1.1 billion between Oct. 17 and Oct. 23. Retail investors had inflows totaling $885 million into single stocks versus $497 million into ETFs during that period, Vanda said.

"The recent uptick in single stock purchases suggests that confidence levels remain relatively optimistic," wrote Vanda analysts in a Thursday note. "In a more cautious environment we would see purchases of ETFs increase as individuals generally like to stay invested but scale down risk levels by broadening exposure outside of concentrated single-name bets."

Retail Investors Are Also Excited About Tesla, Trump Media Stock

Tesla (TSLA) was a not-so-close second to Nvidia, attracting more than $353 million of retail investors' dollars between Oct. 17 and Oct. 23.

Tesla reported earnings that beat expectations after the ball on the 23rd, causing its shares to rise 22% in yesterday's session. The EV maker's results and outlook rejuvenated interest in the shares, Vanda said, writing that a recent robotaxi event "failed to meet lofty expectations and retail investors began to flock back into their semiconductor darling" — meaning Nvidia.

Nvidia's results are due next month.

While retail investors are still putting their money in big tech companies like Nvidia, Tesla, Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), they're also betting on Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) ahead of election day in the United States. There were $34 million worth of net retail purchases of "DJT" between Oct. 17 and Oct. 23, Vanda said.

"DJT has historically been regarded as a 'meme stock', but now it’s increasingly being used by retail speculators as a vehicle to bet on a Trump win at the upcoming US election," wrote Vanda analysts.

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