Analysis-US retail investors wary of buying the dip as Trump anxiety deepens

Suzanne McGee

Tue, Mar 11, 2025, 3:06 AM 3 min read

By Suzanne McGee

(Reuters) -U.S. retail investors are increasing progressively uneasy astir a plummet successful the banal market, asking for much concern advice, questioning whether to bargain the dip and looking for safer havens, strategists and wealthiness advisors said.

Investor fears that Donald Trump’s tariffs volition spark an economical downturn are driving a sell-off successful equities, wiping retired $4 trillion from the S&P 500’s highest past month, a stunning reversal for Wall Street that was erstwhile fired-up by president’s agenda.

That was feeding done to immoderate idiosyncratic capitalist behavior.

"We're seeing little and little dip buying than we've seen successful a while, which tells america radical are stepping backmost a small bit," said Joe Mazzola, caput trading and derivatives strategist astatine Charles Schwab.

The steadfast began seeing creeping hazard aversion among retail concern clients successful mid-February, helium said, arsenic those with larger portfolios became nett sellers.

Andrew Graham, managing spouse of Jackson Square Capital, which manages wealth for affluent and high-net worthy individuals and families, said helium has been gathering up currency successful his lawsuit accounts to the highest successful astir 5 years, erstwhile the pandemic emerged arsenic a caller menace to the economy.

Graham, who has discretion implicit managing his clients' accounts, said currency is present "well implicit 10%" of astir of his clients' portfolios. He is inactive selling stocks and gathering currency for his clients.

Clients are present being definite to amusement up for scheduled quarterly portfolio reviews with Graham and his team, helium said.

"Worried oregon tense clients construe into a busier calendar for america than usual," Graham said. What concerns him, however, is that galore investors whitethorn inactive presumption the sell-off arsenic a correction arsenic opposed to a prolonged downturn.

Broadly, currency levels are precocious with assets astatine wealth marketplace funds astatine a grounds according to information from Investment Company Institute. Cash levels marched steadily higher past week, mounting a caller grounds of $7.3 trillion, said Peter Crane of Crane Data, a steadfast that tracks marketplace flows. That compares with astir $7.17 trillion astatine the opening of 2025, helium said.

To beryllium sure, not each retail investors are overly worried. According to information from Vanda Research, arsenic of past week – the past play for which figures were disposable – retail investors remained nett buyers of azygous stocks that person been marketplace darlings, specified arsenic Palantir.

Even leveraged exchange-traded funds offering investors a aggregate of immoderate upside connected underlying stocks oregon indexes person been popular, said Marco Iachini, elder vice president astatine Vanda.