The global pandemic spawned an array of diverse financial opportunities for those seeking market interaction in light of global stay-at-home mandates and financial market volatility. Generating turbulence across the financial market, the pandemic also saw a rise in those wanting to take some financial risk. Millions of people were placed on furlough, others simply had more spare time and disposable income on their hands.
Consequently, the broadening of financial outlets also worked to create at-home trading norms. Retail trading consequently saw a huge uptake across the world. Stocks fluctuated, which for many, was a positive, but a new generation of traders were also subject to the inherent risks of turbulent stock markets and financial institutions.
During the pandemic, nearly 2 million UK adults became day traders from their homes, for both stocks and digital currencies including crypto. In Canada, around half a million Canadians opened brokerage accounts to access the online market, in something that can only be described as a retail trading boom.
Although these trading styles continue to grow and change, the future remains unpredictable. A Taiwan study, for example, found that only 1 percent of its vast day-trader population outperformed the market. Another found 75 percent of day traders abandon the market after two years.
'People are obviously attracted by the promise of big gains,' says Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America. 'But they are just as likely, maybe more likely, to suffer big losses.'
Those starting in the retail trading space require easily-accessible advice, abundant in upcoming apps and social spaces. Trading interest during the pandemic grew quickly, with novices flooding to brokerage platforms like Robinhood, often unaware of the hidden world of payment-for-order-flow (PFOF) mechanisms that such firms operate under. The surge of these sites soon matched learning traders. As only one example, Robinhood reported more than 3 million funded accounts by May 2020: half of these created by those new to the world of day trading.
Often fuelled by the prospective of swift profits, the market continues to absorb new investors. Studies have shown that many retail investors plan to continue their lockdown investment habits. One such study, for instance, from one of the UK's largest banks, Barclays, found that 59 per cent of investors are feeling optimistic about the future of financial markets. Additionally, 63 per cent of UK investors believe that pandemic-hit industries will recover, with sustainable energy and healthcare being viewed as the best-performing sectors.
With the market's persistent dynamism and a steady hybrid working system remaining, retail trading is not going anywhere. Instead, it is emerging in new crowds and spaces, with the younger generation leading this expansion. In the UK, another study by Barclay confirms that 35 per cent of Gen-Z investors - trading during the pandemic - plan to invest more in its aftermath.
The market is witnessing a soaring new class of traders. More notably, their investment levels are changing. Citadel Securities, a leading global market maker, estimates that individual investors' share of US total trading volume was at an average of 10 percent of total market activity in 2019. According to the Wall Street Journal, this doubled, reaching 20 per cent in 2020.
Professional traders are now, therefore, seeking reliable and efficient sources of information to enhance their trading endeavours and mitigate risk. TraderTV.live, a franchise sponsored by Day Trade the World (DTTW) the world's largest platform for day traders, connected to over 50 global markets - is at the centre of this demand. TraderTV is hurriedly becoming the information hub for both amateur and professional traders alike
Professional and seasoned market traders Brendan Wickens, Neal Roberts, and Shawn Catena host the show, sharing insights on live trading trends and market data across the globe. As leading trading professionals, with 40 years of collective experience, they are working to strengthen the knowledge base of those seeking real-time trading advice.
In 2019, TraderTV launched as a training tool for trading offices. Since then, Select Vantage Inc and Day Trade the World CEO Daniel Schlaepfer, the show's executive producer, decided to open it to the public making it available on YouTube.
Since this transition, the platform has become the number-one trading show on YouTube Live with almost 300,000 dedicated subscribers and over 25 million views. Exploring perspectives and direct discussions on trading, the show's focus remains on imparting useful insight from experience. Recent guests include seasoned investor Peter Schiff and Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, specialists in the financial field.
Day-trading is, like with anything in the financial markets, a risk, but can be undertaken in risk-mitigating manners. In examining key topics of the market, TraderTV joins with professionals in providing relevant training and market intelligence information for traders. Using live, accurate material from people with long-term experience, the show is founding a knowledgeable and extensive vision on the current trading scene.
