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® reading for January 2014. The Investor Movement Index, or the IMXSM, 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 January 2014 Investor Movement Index for the five weeks ending January 31, 2014, reveals:
- Reading: 5.66 (compared to 5.62 in December)
- Trend direction: Positive
- Trend length: 4 months
- Score relative to historic ranges: High
January’s IMX reading rose for the fourth consecutive month and above the previous record high of 5.62 set in December 2013. The IMX has been at the high end of its range (Tier 4 and 5) since October 2012, indicating that clients have been invested in equity markets during a period when the S&P 500 has appreciated by 26%. The S&P 500 was stable through the first three weeks of January, but traded lower during the last two weeks. TD Ameritrade clients appeared to continue their trend of treating dips as buying opportunities. Like last month, buying activity was broad-based as clients were net buyers of individual equities and U.S. stock mutual funds/ETFs. Commodities-based ETFs were sold for the second month in a row.
As equity markets were volatile in January, TD Ameritrade clients bought additional shares of dividend paying issuers like AT&T (T), General Motors (GM), and General Electric (GE). Widely held names including Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), and Bank of America (BAC) all experienced volatility and were net buys. Both Apple (AAPL) and Boeing (BA) declined following earnings announcements, and clients were net buyers of these stocks.
“Equity markets were up 30 percent in 2013 but have recently pulled back. It’s normal, healthy and expected for the market to pull back following extended periods of growth. It allows the market to build a base,” said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist, TD Ameritrade. “Our clients increased their market exposure in January, so it appears that they viewed the recent dip as an opportunity. It will be interesting to see whether these levels provide that base.”
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 January 2014, 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.
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.
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