Trading Stocks Loses Its Thrill: ‘I Would Get Burned’

livemint.com:

Trading in the stock market just isn’t much fun anymore. Individual investors are dialing back how much risk they are taking across markets. Some are accumulating cash or stashing it in funds tracking bonds or money markets to take advantage of yields that have soared to 16-year highs.

Others are backing away from turbocharged bets on stocks, borrowing less to amplify their positions. Many have pulled money out of U.S. stocks, putting equity exchange-traded and mutual funds on track for the first year of outflows since 2020.

Although stocks have staged a rebound that has pushed the S&P 500 up 13% this year, some individuals say they are still nursing giant losses from 2022, when major indexes suffered their worst year since the 2008 financial crisis. Many have learned it is tough to make money when stocks aren’t steadily climbing—or have abandoned dreams of making a living trading stocks. Much of the excitement that lighted up online message boards and Discord channels during the pandemic bull market has evaporated.

Even Reddit’s WallStreetBets, the online group that became synonymous with YOLO trades, was recently dotted with conversations about interest rates, bond yields and inflation, alongside brags about riskier trades. Mentions of high-yield savings have more than quadrupled online over the past year, while talk surrounding money markets and Treasurys has skyrocketed, according to figures from data analytics firm LikeFolio. Chatter about buying or investing in stocks has fallen almost 10% over that time frame, the firm estimates.