Many investors or traders like to follow the crowd when it comes to investing, whether that means buying popular shares going up or selling widely-held shares going down it's often assumed there's safety in numbers.
While this is not an investment strategy I'd recommend, it can be interesting to note what the market thinks are the hottest stocks to buy or laggards to sell.
Every month investment portfolio platform administrator Sharesight posts a list of the most popular stocks among retail investors to trade according to its own records.
So let's take a look at what it's reporting as the most popular shares to trade.
Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) is a buy-now-pay-later start-up that went ballistic in March from 91 cents to $2 after hitting the ASX boards only a month before for just 20 cents per share! This company looks a favourite of day traders who buy and sell with little regard to valuation as they don't plan on holding the stock for more than a couple of hours.
AfterPay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) is a real deal buy-now-pay-later business that is also being widely traded by retail investors perhaps catching the fear of missing out (FOMO) as the stock races higher.
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) recently completed a heavily oversubscribed capital raising offering investors the chance to buy up to $15,000 worth of new shares at $21.50. This may explain some of the heavy trading in another white hot tech share.
Nufarm (ASX: NUF) is a surprise entrant on the list that reported its half-year result on March 20 that probably triggered some heavy trading in the stock.
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) is popular for its defensive profits and big dividends, however, whether the NAB is a dividend trap due to a potential upcoming dividend cut is something for investors to consider.
Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) is the aerial-mapping software-as-a-service business that has gone gangbusters over the 12 months including in March. According to Sharesight, Nearmap inked deals with Utah-based Auric Solar and Elite Grounds in March.
