Data reveals surge in first-time investors during COVID-19 pandemic
The Search For “How To Invest In The Stock Market” Rise
Online searches for “how to invest in the stock market” rise 83%, new investors up 64% following the market crash in March, according to global financial platform Investing.com and SEMrush.
New York, NY, July 20, 2020 – The population of first-time investors is growing rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, financial markets platform Investing.com has revealed today in newly released data.
Working with the online visibility management platform SEMrush, Investing.com documented that Google searches in the U.S. for the term “how to invest in the stock market” rose approximately 83 percent (8,100 searches to 14,800) from February to April of 2020, following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as 328 percent year over year since 2019. Additionally, searches for the term “stocks to buy” skyrocketed 124 percent from February to April, and 417 percent year over year. Both terms are commonly associated with first-time investing.
In a separate analysis of its own platform, Investing.com found that its number of U.S.-based users jumped from 13.1 million in January and February 2020 to 21.5 million in March and April, an increase of more than 64 percent. Interestingly enough, only a small increase of 12% was seen in May and June (24 million users), signaling that not only was this substantial increase in new investors confined to the stock market crash back in March, but that these new investors are also sticking around for the time being. This was a trend not only confined to the U.S. either, with a 60% increase in users seen over March and April, across Investing.com’s 44 international editions around the globe.
Sports Bettors Shift To Day-Trading
“Essentially bored sports bettors shifted their focus to day-trading when the coronavirus pandemic brought sporting events to a halt earlier this year,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com. “Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has become the poster child of this day-trading craze that has taken Wall Street by storm. The big question is how many of these first-time day-traders will stay in the market once sports are back on.”
Which stocks are attracting the greatest surges in interest during these times? From December 2019 to May 2020, the group of companies which saw the largest percentage increases in pageviews on Investing.com include multiple airlines, cruise lines, and oil companies. In these instances, investors are likely perceiving buying opportunities for plummeting stocks in hard-hit industries. Simultaneously, rising interest in the Zoom videoconference platform and pharmaceutical companies reflects how investors are betting on the companies that are providing solutions to the pandemic’s challenges.
“While market participants are still struggling to understand the true extent of the damage from the fast-spreading virus outbreak, many first-time traders chose to ignore the risk and buy the dip in some of the hardest-hit names in the market,” continued Cohen. “In retrospect, that wasn’t such a bad move.”
The full story is on Investing.com at:
https://www.investing.com/blog/coronavirus-gives-birth-to-new-generation-of-firsttime-investors-287
