Those individual investors had embraced options as a way of riding the stock market’s momentum that drove shares of companies from Apple Inc. to
to new heights. Now, the Federal Reserve’s move to raise interest rates to tame inflation has thrown that dynamic into reverse, sending the prices of stocks skidding.
Individual investors made up 26% of total options activity in March, down from nearly 30% early last year. That marked the lowest level since March 2020, though was still well above prepandemic levels, according to calculations by Bloomberg Intelligence’s
Larry Tabb,
who analyzed figures from the 12 largest online brokers.
Meanwhile, their share of stock-trading activity hit a low of 10.7% in January, based on data from the largest brokers. Activity has ticked…
