Investing
Top trades: what did investors buy and sell in October?
TD Direct Investing CEO Stuart Welch looks back at investor behaviour during a time when IPO activity was hotting up.
October was lit up by both international and UK initial public offerings (IPOs), particularly with high profile companies Twitter and Royal Mail.
The announcement by Royal Mail (RMG), which TD was an intermediary for, has boosted London’s market for IPOs, generating incredible discussion and attention across the country. The sale of £1.2bn of shares marks the first substantial privatisation with IPO potential since 1996, when Railtrack and British Energy were floated on the stock market.
As a result, TD saw a record first hour of trading on Friday 11 October, with 60% of these trades in Royal Mail shares. For the month of October, Royal Mail took top place in buys and third position in sells, suggesting that initial investors took advantage of the high share price of the popular stock.
Internationally, Twitter (TWTR) also gained hype in October ahead of its 7 November float on the US stock exchange. The social media platform proved a popular buy for TD clients, trading at a ratio of 5.3:1 for its first week. On day one of trading, TD saw interest among UK clients, as US trades were up by 33%, with Twitter accounting for 18% of the day’s US trades.
Facebook (FB.), another tech start-up that floated in May 2012, also remains popular among TD clients. It occupies second position behind Apple in both international buys and sells tables for October – despite initial criticism around the share price when it floated.
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Technology IPOs have made up about 20% of the 179 IPOs this year, according to Morningstar data, showing the potential for considerable growth in this fast paced and high profile sector.
However, the acquisition of both Blackberry (by Canadian insurance company Fairfax Financial) and Nokia (by Microsoft) sit in stark comparison to Twitter’s IPO potential. The failures and successes of each of these companies reflect the highly changeable nature of the current technology market.
Top 10 UK buys and sell
|
Buys |
Sells |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Company |
Company |
|||
|
1 |
LLOYDS BANKING GP |
1 |
ROYAL MAIL PLC |
|
|
2 |
BARCLAYS |
2 |
LLOYDS BANKING GP |
|
|
3 |
ROYAL MAIL PLC |
3 |
BARCLAYS |
|
|
4 |
GULF KEYSTONE PETR |
4 |
GULF KEYSTONE PETR |
|
|
5 |
GLAXOSMITHKLINE |
5 |
BP |
|
|
6 |
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL |
6 |
ROYAL BK SCOT GRP |
|
|
7 |
ROYAL BK SCOT GRP |
7 |
GLENCORE XSTRATA |
|
|
8 |
GLENCORE XSTRATA |
8 |
CENTAMIN PLC |
|
|
9 |
BP |
9 |
VODAFONE GROUP |
|
|
10 |
HSBC HOLDINGS PLC |
10 |
TESCO |
Top 10 international buys and sells
|
Buys |
Sells |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Company |
Company |
|||
|
1 |
APPLE INC |
1 |
APPLE INC |
|
|
2 |
FACEBOOK INC |
2 |
FACEBOOK INC |
|
|
3 |
TESLA MOTORS INC |
3 |
TESLA MOTORS INC |
|
|
4 |
BANK OF IRELAND |
4 |
GOOGLE INC |
|
|
5 |
ALLIED IRISH BANKS |
5 |
GEN ELEC CO |
|
|
6 |
GOOGLE INC |
6 |
BK OF AMERICA CORP |
|
|
7 |
INTL BUSINESS MCHN |
7 |
MICROSOFT CORP |
|
|
8 |
3 D SYSTEMS INC |
8 |
COMMERZBANK AG |
|
|
9 |
AMAZON COM INC |
9 |
NETFLIX INC |
|
|
10 |
PENNEY(JC)CO INC |
10 |
AMAZON COM INC |