Bullseye on TACO! US stock retail investors make record-breaking bottom purchases amid panic, with nearly $13 billion net buys in a single week.

When the market experienced a panic sell-off on Tuesday local time due to turmoil in the Japanese bond market and geopolitical uncertainties, retail investors bought aggressively on the dip, registering the third largest single-day purchase of the year and driving this week's net retail buying to an astonishing $12.9 billion, reaching a remarkable peak. This maneuver precisely aligned with the so-called “TACO” (Trump Actually Cares about Optics) strategy, which anticipates a quick reversal in market volatility spurred by Trump’s comments.

Looking back over a longer period, according to JPMorgan data, retail investors’ cumulative net purchases over the past 21 trading days have, for the first time in history, surpassed the $45 billion mark. Compared to last year's event-driven short-term bottom fishing, this buying spree is more persistent, indicating a shift in retail sentiment from risk aversion to active allocation.

On Wednesday local time, Trump’s speech in Davos lifted risk sentiment, and the market reversed as retail investors had anticipated. Trump made a significant shift in stance, not only dropping previous tariff threats regarding Greenland but also ruling out the possibility of using force. According to Xinhua News Agency, US President Trump stated on social media on the 21st that he has established a framework for a future agreement about Greenland with NATO Secretary General Rutte and will not carry out the measure to impose additional tariffs on eight European countries originally scheduled to take effect on February 1.

It is worth noting that this year, retail investors’ purchase volume in ETFs and individual stocks is roughly equal, altering the previous ETF-dominated allocation structure and showing that their investment strategy has become more diversified and proactive. This rebound following Trump-related statements once again proves retail investors’ ability to gauge the rhythm between policy narratives and market sentiment.

Precious Metals Gain Favor Again

Earlier, as Trump issued potential tariff threats to Europe over Greenland, market risk-aversion sentiment increased and precious metal ETFs once again became a retail buying hotspot, ranking second among all categories. Meanwhile, international equity ETFs also saw massive capital inflows close to their all-time percentile highs.

Among overall ETF purchases, broad-based equity ETFs contributed about 40% of the total, ranking first for weekly purchases (at the 98th percentile), mainly pushed by strong capital inflows into QQQ (inflow reaching 2.4 standard deviations), SPY, and VOO.

On the other hand, affected by cold waves in the US, natural gas futures soared nearly 50% in two days, prompting retail investors to accelerate profit-taking from related ETFs such as BOIL and UNG. Unlike the safe-haven nature of precious metals, cryptocurrency ETFs showed “anti-gold” trading characteristics in early 2026, also experiencing fund outflows, with currency ETFs only at the 4th percentile of relatively low activity yesterday.

Tech Stocks Dominate Individual Stock Purchases

For individual stock purchases (at the 84th percentile), technology remains the primary destination for retail funds, with consumer discretionary and communication sectors following closely behind. Although the “Magnificent Seven” continued to dominate retail trading in 2025, recently capital has started to spread more widely to other targets.

This week, Tesla and Amazon continued to lead net retail purchases, while Netflix, Micron, TSMC, and Intel drew significant attention. In contrast, Apple is still being continuously net sold, becoming one of the main sources of funds for retail portfolio adjustments.

In the options market, retail participation remains high. Most active contracts are concentrated in Tesla, Nvidia, Meta, AMD, Google, Micron, Microsoft, and Apple, as well as precious metal ETFs like SLV and GLD.

JPMorgan pointed out that retail investors’ strategies in navigating market volatility have shifted from last year’s ETF-heavy approach to a balanced allocation between individual stocks and ETFs, reflecting rising risk tolerance and further maturation of investment strategies.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market is risky; investment must be cautious. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account any individual user's specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article match their particular circumstances. Investments made based on this content are at your own risk.