Although US stocks faced a series of challenges in the first half of this year, including tariff uncertainty, large market fluctuations, and the Middle East conflict, this did not slow down retail investors' buying frenzy. During this period, they traded shares worth a record $6.6 trillion. According to NASDAQ data, retail investors in the US stocks purchased a total of about 3.4 trillion US dollars worth of stocks and sold about 3.2 trillion US dollars in the first half of this year, bringing the total transaction volume to over 6.6 trillion US dollars. This shows that despite the sharp fluctuations in US stocks in the first half of this year, retail investors still tend to buy rather than sell. Capital market research firm Vanda found that retail investors made net purchases of individual stocks and ETFs worth $155.3 billion in the first half of 2025. This is the largest net inflow of retail investors since the agency began tracking this data in 2014, surpassing the previous high of US$152.8 billion in the first half of 2021, when meme stock frenzy and COVID-19 stimulus measures prompted a large number of retail investors to pour into the stock market. Vanda pointed out that purchases in 2025 were mainly driven by two factors: “American exceptionalism” deals and record dips triggered by Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs.

Although US stocks faced a series of challenges in the first half of this year, including tariff uncertainty, large market fluctuations, and the Middle East conflict, this did not slow down retail investors' buying frenzy. During this period, they traded shares worth a record $6.6 trillion. According to NASDAQ data, retail investors in the US stocks purchased a total of about 3.4 trillion US dollars worth of stocks and sold about 3.2 trillion US dollars in the first half of this year, bringing the total transaction volume to over 6.6 trillion US dollars. This shows that despite the sharp fluctuations in US stocks in the first half of this year, retail investors still tend to buy rather than sell. Capital market research firm Vanda found that retail investors made net purchases of individual stocks and ETFs worth $155.3 billion in the first half of 2025. This is the largest net inflow of retail investors since the agency began tracking this data in 2014, surpassing the previous high of US$152.8 billion in the first half of 2021, when meme stock frenzy and COVID-19 stimulus measures prompted a large number of retail investors to pour into the stock market. Vanda pointed out that purchases in 2025 were mainly driven by two factors: “American exceptionalism” deals and record dips triggered by Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs.