Periodically I provide a review of what individual members of Better Investing are purchasing. My last review or update was in August last year and BI members reported their top purchase was Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Another purchase back in August was Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:LUV), so BI members seemed to be ahead of Warren Buffett's interest in airline stocks. In regards to Apple, BI members are reporting they are net sellers of the stock now. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has been a favorite for some time and continues near the top of the list. CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) has experienced weakness recently and BI members are reporting they are net purchases of this stock at the moment. Below is a list of the current Most Active stocks reported by Better Investing members.
Individual investor activity is reviewed by strategists in order to gauge investor sentiment. The individual investor sentiment measure is viewed as a contrarian one, so when bullishness readings are overly bullish, the equity market has a tendency to be near a top. Below is a look at the sentiment readings from last week as provided by the American Association of Individual Investors. Individual investors are not expressing an extreme level of bullishness, while at the same time their reported equity allocation is above the longer term average. Seems their action is speaking louder than words.
Based on individual investor stock activity in August last year, it seems their activity worked out pretty well from a performance standpoint. The fact they are net sellers of some popular stocks now, like Apple, time will tell how this decision works out. Just maybe, individual investors are becoming a less reliable contrarian indicator.
Disclosure: Firm and/or family long CVS, AAPL, XOM