Investors Backed Off Banks, Airlines in November Says TD Ameritrade Survey

Retail investors lowered their exposure to U.S. stocks in November with banks and airlines leading the way, even though the indexes moved higher, according to a TD Ameritrade survey.

Stocks surged in November as the Trump rally took hold, even as retail investors lowered their overall exposure to U.S. stocks, breaking a three month streak. The behavior-based TD Ameritrade Investor Movement Index (IMX), which aggregates Main Street investor positions, fell 5% to 5.53 in November as retail investors decreased their exposure to the U.S. equity markets. Airline stocks such as Southwest Airlines (LUV) , Delta Airlines (DAL) and United Continental Holdings (UAL) were net sold as their prices rose in November. Net selling also continued in the financial sector for a second month. Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC) were net sold even as their prices rose sharply in November. Despite being net sellers of equities in November, TD Ameritrade clients continued net buying in some of the names that have been popular in recent months including dividend payers Verizon Communications (VZ) and AT&T (T) . Each saw their stock prices rebound after declines earlier in the month. Facebook (FB) and Amazon.com (AMZN) have also been popular buys. Both companies share prices declined in November after setting year-to-date highs in October. Net buying also occurred in both Under Armour (UA) and Tesla Motors (TSLA) following their earnings announcements in late October.