Charles Schwab (SCHW) said on Monday that the Schwab Trading Activity Index, or STAX, increased to 57.32 in February from 49.96 in January.
STAX analyzes retail investor stock positions and trading activity from Schwab’s client accounts to illuminate what investors were actually doing and how they were positioned in the markets each month.
The February score represents the biggest month-over-month percentage gain since late 2020.
“The trading behavior we saw among our retail clients tells a clear story: the AI-driven panic that rattled the markets in February was likely overblown and, more than anything, may have represented an opportune time to pick up some names that had taken a perhaps unfair beating,” said Joe Mazzola, head trading and derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab.
Last month, more affluent and older investors led the buying activity among Schwab clients. Popular names bought include Amazon.com (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), NVIDIA (NVDA), Palantir Technologies (PLTR), and Netflix (NFLX).
Names net sold included Meta Platforms (META), Apple (AAPL), Verizon Communications (VZ), Costco Wholesale (COST), and AT&T (T).