Investors Unchain Themselves From ETFs as Stock Volume Surges
- S&P 500 share trading climbs to five-year high versus SPDR ETF
- Some see less passive approach as a bullish market signal
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Individual stocks are hot again, with investors eschewing passive strategies and piling into single shares at the fastest pace in five years. It’s the latest sign of calm returning to the equity market after last August’s meltdown.
Among Standard & Poor’s 500 Index constituents, about 2.3 billion shares have changed hands each day since early November, compared with 106 million a day in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, the biggest such security tracking the benchmark gauge. The ratio between the two has almost doubled since reaching a four-year low in September and on Nov. 30 hit 24, the highest level in almost six years, data compiled by Bloomberg and FBN Securities Inc. show.