TD Ameritrade’s Investor Movement Index: IMX Hits Highest Level in its Four-Year History

Investors appeared to treat the volatility in the first half of December as a buying opportunity

OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TD Ameritrade, Inc. (“TD Ameritrade”), a broker-dealer subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NYSE: AMTD), is today revealing the Investor Movement Index^SM reading for December 2013. The Investor Movement Index, or the IMX^SM, is a proprietary, behavior-based index created by TD Ameritrade that aggregates Main Street investor positions and activity to measure what investors are actually doing and how they are positioned in the markets.

The December 2013 Investor Movement Index for the five weeks ending December 27, 2013, reveals:

• Reading: 5.62 (compared to 5.42 in November)
• Trend direction: Positive
• Trend length: 3 months
• Score relative to historic ranges: High

December’s IMX reading rose for the third consecutive month and above the previous record high of 5.56 set in June 2011. The S&P 500 traded lower in the first half of December before bouncing to a record high. TD Ameritrade clients appeared to treat the volatility in December as a buying opportunity. Buying activity was broad-based, as clients were net buyers of individual equities and U.S. stock mutual funds/ETFs, which increased their equity market exposure. Clients were net sellers of commodities-based ETFs and mutual funds, which helped reduce their exposure in gold, natural gas, and oil. Widely held names included Apple (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Bank of America (BAC), and Facebook (FB).

“Yet again it appears our clients anticipated the markets moving higher by increasing their exposure to equities,” said Steve Quirk, senior vice president of TD Ameritrade’s Trader Group. “In December we saw rotation out of Facebook (FB) and into Twitter (TWTR), as Facebook rose to a new high and clients continued to accumulate positions in Twitter (TWTR).”

The IMX value is calculated based on a complex proprietary formula. Each month, TD Ameritrade pulls a sample from its client base of 6 million funded accounts that includes all accounts that completed a trade in the past two months. The holdings and positions of this statistically significant sample are evaluated to calculate individual scores, and the median of those scores represents the monthly IMX.

For more information on the Investor Movement Index, including historical IMX data going back to December 2010, to view the full report from December 2013, or to sign up for future IMX news alerts, please visit www.tdameritrade.com/IMX. Additionally, TD Ameritrade clients can chart the IMX using the symbol $IMX in either the thinkorswim or TD Ameritrade Mobile Trader platforms.

For more information on top trading trends of 2013, please visit: http://www.amtd.com/English/newsroom/research-and-story-ideas/research-and-story-ideas-details/December-2013-Investor-Movement-Index/December-2013-Investor-Movement-Index-Infographic

Inclusion of specific security names in this commentary does not constitute a recommendation from TD Ameritrade to buy, sell, or hold.

Past performance of a security, strategy or index is no guarantee of future results or investment success.

Historical data should not be used alone when making investment decisions. Please consult other sources of information and consider your individual financial position and goals before making an independent investment decision.

The IMX is not a tradable index. The IMX should not be used as an indicator or predictor of future client trading volume or financial performance for TD Ameritrade.

For the latest TD Ameritrade news and information, follow the Company on Twitter, @TDAmeritradePR.

About TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation
Millions of investors and independent registered investment advisors (RIAs) have turned to TD Ameritrade’s (NYSE:AMTD) technology, people and education to help make investing and trading easier to understand and do. Online or over the phone. In a branch or with an independent RIA. First-timer or sophisticated trader. Our clients want to take control, and we help them decide how — bringing Wall Street to Main Street for more than 37 years. An official sponsor of the 2014 and 2016 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams, TD Ameritrade has time and again been recognized as a leader in investment services. Please visit TD Ameritrade’s newsroom or www.amtd.com for more information.

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