Retail Traders Remain Involved, Look to Re-Adjust and Sector Rotation

TD Ameritrades’s Investor Movement Index (IMX) moved lower for the month of October as volatility came back to the market a bit. Chief Strategist, JJ Kinahan, tells TheStreet’s Jill Malandrino that IMX measures engagement with the market, not necessarily buying and selling. Kinahan explains that TD Ameritrade’s clients were actually net buyers for the month, but it was rotation out of the more volatile names into lower beta, lower volatility stocks, essentially re-adjusting exposure to the market. Investors looked to longer-term, dividend paying stocks like Ford and AT&T, as well as high yield names such as Transocean and BP. Kinahan says clients also did well with Apple and Alibaba, a favorite since going public. As investors look to consumer spending for the 2014 holidays, lower prices at the pump will certainly provide a boost, but Kinahan thinks a big part of it comes back to employment and job creation in the right areas.