Retail Buying Hit $3.4 Trillion In The First Half Of 2025, Yet Market Chatter Has Faded

Retail investors were undeterred by geopolitical tensions, tariff announcements, or political friction in the first half of 2025 – trading a record $6.6 trillion worth of equities, despite volatility sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff push, unrest in the Middle East, and his ongoing public feud with Elon Musk.

According to a report by MarketWatch, citing Nasdaq data, retail investors collectively purchased $3.4 trillion in equities between January and June, while selling roughly $3.2 trillion over the same period. The activity marked one of the most robust periods of retail participation on record, according to the report. 

Nasdaq’s data showed that Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA) and Palantir (PLTR) were the most actively traded stocks throughout the first half. However, the report also pointed to retail investors investing heavily in index-tracking funds like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which mirrors the S&P 500 index, and the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (QQQ), which tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100.

However, Stocktwits data shows that retail chatter around these top names didn’t necessarily see the same spike as their stock prices.

Nvidia, for instance, saw retail chatter drop by nearly 80% in the first six months of the year, despite its stock price reaching new highs, bringing the AI bellwether within striking distance of becoming the most valuable company in the world ever. Nvidia’s stock has gained more than 15% this year so far.

Palantir saw retail chatter rise by just 1.5%, even though the stock is up more than 78% this year so far. Meanwhile, retail interest around QQQ and SPY climbed more steadily – up 13% and 18%, respectively.

Tesla, however, remained an outlier with retail commentary around the stock surging by more than 40% in the first six months of the year after the EV maker’s CEO kicked off the year as President Trump’s ally before the relationship soured into a brutal public spat between the two. The stock, however, has fallen nearly 25% this year so far. 

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