New PSS Survey Finds Most Active Traders Plan to Invest Tax Refunds
Traders more optimistic about stock market; value easy-to-use trading platforms
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PSS today released new data showing that active traders are feeling bullish and plan to invest their tax refunds in the stock market. The latest PSS Active Trader Sentiment Survey polled more than 650 individual investors who trade frequently (at least 36 times per year) and found that 72 percent of those traders who are expecting a tax refund this year plan on investing at least some of it. In fact, more than a quarter of respondents (28%) say they will put the entire refund into their investment portfolios.
According to the survey, overall optimism about market conditions hit its highest level since the end of 2019. Nearly half of those traders surveyed (47%) said they are currently bullish, compared to 38 percent last November and up from just 28 percent in April 2020.
Other key findings include:
• More than three quarters (77%) consider market volatility a friend versus a foe, up from 71 percent in November 2020.
• Traders are most bullish on the technology sector (36%), followed by materials (26%) and financials (13%). Only four percent of traders said the energy sector looked most promising to them and just one percent identified commodities as the sector they were optimistic about.
Traders Taking Action
Optimism about the market appears to be pushing traders into action. One in four (25%) recently changed their portfolio allocation to include less cash. And, more than two-thirds (69%) plan to make more than 36 trades this year.
Traders said an easy-to-use trading platform (26%) was most important to them, followed closely by access to research (25%) and cost (20%).
“These survey results reinforce what we are already seeing among our client base,” noted Kelli Keough, vice president of active trading at PSS. “The trading platform is often the single biggest influence in how a trader perceives and reacts to market-making events. At PSS, we are committed to providing our active trader clients with an approachable easy to use platform that helps them confidently interact with the market and make smarter trading decisions.”