US bank upheaval sees Selfwealth investors buy dips in banking stocks in both the US and Australia
The March banking issues in the US did not deter Australian investors topping up on both US and Australian banking stocks.
Analysis of the trading behaviour of the Selfwealth cohort in March shows that despite the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and UBS’ takeover of Credit Suisse, banking trades increased significantly – with the majority buying rather than selling.
The top five stocks overall for March of single stocks (no ETFs) by value were headed up by Apple followed by Citibank, Bank of America, BHP and Fortescue. A strange addition was First Republic Bank, a regional American bank, which saw 70% of all trades being inflows of capital.
On the ASX, trades in Macquarie Bank were up 23% compared to its annualised monthly average with 77% of trades being buys. Bank of Queensland trade jumped 34% above its monthly average with 78% of all trades a buy.
An odd one coming into the mix was Judo Capital Holdings, the owner of neobank Judo, which jumped more than 100% with 74% of trades being buys.
Selfwealth CEO Cath Whitaker said the reaction to SVB and Credit Suisse saw huge spikes in trading for not only well-known banks but also some smaller players.
“Trading in First Republic Bank was a bit of a surprise considering it lost over 90% of its value in two weeks in March. And, trading in Bank of Queensland on the ASX was also near record levels,” she said.
“The biggest banking movers were Macquarie which jumped 19 places on our list of most-traded stocks to finish the month in 6th ANZ was a local winner, jumping 10 places to end up in 4th and enjoying a 72% buy-to-sell ratio that indicated investors showing higher conviction it than other banks.”
Of the other stocks, Pilbara Minerals was the most traded stock for the third month in succession, followed by BHP and Woodside.
One of the biggest spikes came from semiconductor company Weebit Nano (ASX: WBT) which finished the month in 13th place overall of most traded shares.
Lynas Rare Earths jumped 28 spots to 14th overall despite its share price reaching 52-week lows. But the cohort believes in them with a 72% buy to sell ratio.
The takeover bid of Liontown Resources by Albermarle, the largest provider of lithium for electric vehicles in the world, saw the share price rocket 56% in just one day. The Selfwealth cohort decided to sell with just 28% buys.
In trading by value, two stocks hit the over $100 million a month – both listed on the Nasdaq – with Apple at $120 million and ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF at $104 million.
Top 20 most traded stocks by volume on the Selfwealth platform in March 2023
| Rank | Company | Code | Buy:Sell ratio |
| 1 | Pilbara Minerals | PLS | 69.6% |
| 2 | BHP | BHP | 56.8% |
| 3 | Woodside | WDS | 57.8% |
| 4 | ANZ | ANZ | 72.3% |
| 5 | Core Lithium | CXO | 61.8% |
| 6 | Macquarie Group | MQG | 77% |
| 7 | Commonwealth Bank | CBA | 69.4% |
| 8 | Liontown Resources | LTR | 28.9% |
| 9 | Westpac | WBC | 70.4% |
| 10 | Lake Resources | LKE | 54.9% |
| 11 | Fortescue | FMG | 43.3% |
| 12 | Qantas | QAN | 54.8% |
| 13 | WeeBit Nano | WBT | 54.8% |
| 14 | Lynas Rare Earths | LYC | 71.8% |
| 15 | Whitehaven Coal | WHC | 52.1% |
| 16 | Arafura Rare Earths | ARU | 59.7% |
| 17 | NAB | NAB | 70.1% |
| 18 | Yancoal Australia | YAL | 57.4% |
| 19 | Australian Foundation Investment | AFI | 77.2% |
| 20 | Sayona Mining | SYA | 69.6% |
Top 10 most traded stocks by value on the Selfwealth platform in March 2023
| Rank | Company | Code | Value | Buy:Sell ratio |
| 1 | Apple | APPL | $116 million | 49.9% |
| 2 | ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF | SQQQ | $104 million | 49.4% |
| 3 | Citibank | C | $64 million | 50.4% |
| 4 | BHP | BHP | $63 million | 48.5% |
| 5 | Bank of America | BAC | $59 million | 49.5% |
| 6 | ProShares UltraPro | TQQQ | $56 million | 59.9% |
| 7 | BetaShares Geared Australian Equity | GEAR | $53 million | 50.8% |
| 8 | Fortescue | FMG | $50 million | 44.4% |
| 9 | Pilbara Minerals | PLS | $48 million | 51.9% |
| 10 | Commonwealth Bank | CBA | $45 million | 53.1% |
