Investment choices can provide insights into the mood of different investor demographics.

Data from broker Selfwealth Ltd (ASX: SWF) has revealed where investors have been putting their money in FY24 to date, from 1 July 2023 to 7 August 2023.

Most popular trades

Selfwealth has provided a list of ASX shares and investments that millionaire millennials have been trading in. It's sorted by the number of trades rather than the number of units or value of trades so that a few rich investors don't skew the results with large trades.

That said, here are the ASX investments with the most amount of trades:

BetaShares Geared Australian Equity (Hedge Fund) (ASX: GEAR) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that's betting on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) to rise. It borrows money to amplify the gains (and losses) made by the portfolio. Current gearing is 57%, which to some people may not be a comfortable level of borrowing for their own portfolios.

Global X Ultra Long Nasdaq 100 Hedge Fund (ASX: LNAS) is invested in 100 of the largest businesses on the NASDAQ 100 stock exchange while utilising futures contracts.

BetaShares Australian Equities Strong Bear Hedge Fund (ASX: BBOZ) is an ETF that enables investors to bet that the ASX 200 is going to fall by using futures. It uses leverage, which amplifies the returns and losses. Since its inception in April 2015, the ASX ETF has delivered an average return per annum of negative 20.3% to June 2023.

Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) is an ETF focused on 300 of the largest ASX shares.

BetaShares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP) is an ETF that's invested in global companies that provide exposure to the cryptocurrency economy. In this portfolio are names like Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Platforms, and Coinbase Global.

Stanmore Resources Ltd (ASX: SMR) is an ASX coal share that has seen its share price rise to a much higher level than before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Other interesting data points

Looking at the wider millennial cohort, not just the rich ones, the largest number of trades involved ETFs. They were: the VAS ETF, Vanguard Diversified High Growth Index ETF (ASX: VDHG), Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS), iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV), and Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ).

Miners made up some of the most popular investments by the wider millennial cohort, including Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG), Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO), and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS).

Non-millionaire baby boomers and Gen Xers liked trading in Core Lithium as well. It seems Gen X hasn't been doing much ETF trading. Millionaire baby boomers have, unsurprisingly, been trading a lot in ASX blue chips, and predominately selling the cash ETF Betashares Australian High Interest Cash ETF (ASX: AAA).

Meantime, millionaire Gen X investors have been interested in technology businesses like Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, and Quantumscape.

The post Top ASX shares wealthy young investors are buying right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

CommSec is one of the largest online brokers in the country. As such, this data can be a useful 'finger on the pulse' of general investing trends in the Aussie market. This week's data covers 4-8 January.

So here are the top 10 United States shares CommSec customers were buying last week:

Most traded US shares on the ASX

1. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) – representing 7.1% of total trades with a 78%/22% buy-to-sell ratio.
2. Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) – representing 3.7% of total trades with an 80%/20% buy-to-sell ratio.
3. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) – representing 2.3% of total trades with a 78%/22% buy-to-sell ratio.
4. BioNano Genomics Inc (NASDAQ: BNGO) – representing 2.3% of total trades with a 71%/29% buy-to-sell ratio.
5. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) – representing 2.4% of total trades with a 50%/50% buy-to-sell ratio.
6. ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (BATS: ARKG)
7. ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK)
8. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
9. Quantumscape Corp (NYSE: QS)
10. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN)

What can we learn from these trades?

We have some interesting developments in this data. But first, it's interesting to note that electric car/battery makers Tesla and Nio retain their long-held positions at the top of this list that they dominated across most of 2020.

Excitement over Tesla and Nio is reaching fever pitch. Tesla alone is up 673% over the past 12 months, including almost 100% since 16 November. It has, just in the past week, printed a new all-time high of US$884.49 a share. As a result, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also recently become the world's richest person, surpassing Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

The China-based Nio is fairing even better. Its shares are up more than 20% over the past 5 days, and up an extraordinary 1,600% over the past 12 months. No wonder ASX investors can't leave these companies alone. However, it is worth noting that roughly 1-in-5 investors are on the selling side of these trades too.

Apple remains ever-popular, but interesting inclusions this week are the biopharma company BioNano, and the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

BioNano shares caught investors' eye when it spiked more than 1,200% between 22 December and 4 January.

Alibaba has been in the news recently as the US government contemplates a forced-delisting of certain Chinese companies from US stock exchanges. Interest has also recently been growing over the whereabouts of Alibaba's founder Jack Ma, who hasn't been seen in public since October last year, despite being China's second-richest person. These narratives are possibly what is behind the 50/50 split between buyers and sellers.

We also have a rare appearance of a couple of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as well. ARKK and ARKG are both run by the popular ARK Invest firm, which is headed by Cathie Wood. Ms Wood has made a name for herself and ARK with an ultra-bullish, tech-driven, growth investing style in recent years, which included some well-timed entries into Tesla stock, incidentally.

Overall, we see a lot of interest in companies that might be described as 'speculative'. It will be interesting to note how long this trend will carry into 2021.

The post Here are the US shares ASX investors are buying in 2021 so far appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Once the stuff of futuristic movies, the electrification of the automobile industry seems all but inevitable today. While Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) receives most of the attention from analysts and investors, there seems to be a new headline every day about an automaker touting its upcoming electric vehicle, or EV. Investors wishing to participate in this new 'gold-rush' may be forgiven for hesitating to pick winners from losers from the vast offering at hand. One way to participate in this trend may be to invest instead in the companies making 'picks and shovels' rather than in the 'gold prospectors' themselves.

The one thing every EV needs more of

That would be range, or how long an EV can go on a full charge. As consumers consider buying an EV, range becomes key for at least two reasons: First, since there aren't as many EV chargers as there are gas stations, consumers experience 'range anxiety,' or the idea that they can get stuck in the middle of nowhere without a way to recharge.

Second, recharging an EV takes a lot longer than filling up. So, the longer the range, the bigger the market for, or the number of people who may buy, that EV. Today, range is arguably the most objective differentiator between a Tesla and all other EVs in the market.

Battery technology determines range. But battery technology is key in another important way: It is what makes EVs more expensive than equivalent gasoline cars today. 

Imagine having an EV that could go seven hours between charges -- to then recharge in about 15 minutes. Now imagine you could buy this EV for about the same price as a gasoline car. This is what QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) claims its product will deliver to the EV industry.

A solid story

Many companies have worked on solid-state batteries over the years -- with nearly all of them failing to make a commercially viable product. QuantumScape itself has been working on lithium-metal batteries, a type of solid-state battery, since 2010. The company claims its batteries will store over 80% more energy than existing lithium-ion competitors while reducing costs substantially. To put this into perspective, Tesla recently announced breakthroughs in battery manufacturing that should deliver up to 54% additional range in about two years.

80% improvement at a lower cost are tall claims for any product. However, several things set QuantumScape apart. For one, it has attracted investment from a number of high-caliber investors: It received $300 million from Volkswagen (OTC: VWAGY), the largest automaker in the world, and arguably one of the most committed to leading the EV transition, as well as venture capitalists such as Bill Gates and Kleiner Perkins. At the end of November 2020, it executed a successful reverse merger with Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: KCAC), a SPAC, including money from legendary investor John Doerr and Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, just to name a few. The merger put the company's enterprise value -- or the total value of its stock, cash, and debt -- at $3.3 billion. And after the merger, the combined entity has achieved a market capitalisation (the value of all of its outstanding stock times its price) of over $14 billion. 

The company's relationship with Volkswagen gives it another leg up: A large, marquee customer. By 2029, Volkswagen plans to sell over 22 million vehicles across about 70 EV models. While QuantumScape expects Volkswagen to be the first company to commercialize its products, it plans on selling its batteries to many other automakers.

Its executive team is no less impressive, with a number of well-known Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, and even the chair of Stanford's mechanical engineering department, on its executive team and board.

What's the catch?

While Volkswagen has successfully tested initial versions of QuantumScape's batteries, the company still has a lot of work to do to further develop key parts of the technology and turn them into a product that can be manufactured affordably and at scale. The company's recent merger and listing provided it with fresh cash -- to the tune of $700 million -- that it will put to work to do just that.

This also means, however, that the company won't have a product to sell, or any meaningful revenue, for a while -- until at least 2024, actually. So, significant stock appreciation may take a few years and will be determined by the company's progress toward product development and manufacturing milestones rather than by traditional financial metrics such as revenue, free cash flow, or gross margins.

Is QuantumScape worth the risk? Investing in an early-stage company, or a start-up is mostly about maximizing the company's likelihood of success while limiting the risk.

As far as potential, QuantumScape certainly checks most of the boxes: The team that led the SPAC and now leads the merged company reads like a who's-who of technological innovation, industry experience, execution, and investing savvy. The company's product promises much-needed disruption in a young industry with lots of momentum and impressive growth potential. And while revenue is still several years away, the company already has a very large, marquee customer, and is valued at roughly one times 2027 estimated revenue. So, assuming the company hits its projected milestones, its stock has a ton of upside.

As far as limiting risk, however, Fools considering an investment in QuantumScape should probably take a conservative approach, hedge their bets, and avoid putting all of their hard-earned dollars on a small handful of high-risk/high-reward stocks.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post About to invest in Tesla? Consider this battery stock instead appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.