Just 1% of retail investors want to sell their stocks despite mounting recession warnings, survey shows

Just 1% of retail traders are looking to sell their stocks next year, according to a survey.Andrew Burton/Getty Images

• Only 1% of retail investors look to sell their stocks next year, according to a survey.

• That's despite mounting fears that the US economy will suffer a recession next year.

• Over 80% of traders believe the market will bottom within six months, according to Finimize.

As much as 99% of retail investors intend to hold onto their stocks next year despite the looming threat of an economic recession, according to a survey.

Finimize polled 2,000 traders in the US, Europe and Asia, asking for their outlook on the equity market next year.

Only 1% intend to sell their stocks in 2023, with 80% believing that the market will bottom in the next six months.

That's despite a growing consensus among analysts and market participants that the US economy at risk of slipping into a recession next year, which could weigh on companies' earnings.

"This data is proof that even in the current market environment, the majority are seeing volatility simply as part of the economic cycle thanks to access to information and growing experience with investing," Finimize's chief executive Max Rofagha said in a statement.

Retail investors have hit headlines since the pandemic by using fiscal stimulus to pile into meme stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment.

But Finimize's latest survey suggests they've moved past the meme-stock mania to focus on more traditional investing methods, according to Rofagha.

"It is clear that the retail investor narrative is changing," he said. "Previously there has been a focus on how a tiny population of day traders is behaving."

The survey showed that 29% of retail investors intend to use the downturn as an opportunity to add to their portfolios. Also, 72% said they intend to back individual stocks rather than investment vehicles like ETFs and mutual funds, with a particular focus on Big Tech names.

And 38% of retail investors plan to carry on investing in crypto — even though digital assets have entered a bear market with bitcoin's price plunging 64% year-to-date to under $17,000.

Read more: Gen Z investors are starting to re-shape stock and crypto markets. They're savvier than you might think — and some are even influenced by Warren Buffett, according to a new report

Read the original article on Business Insider