Retail Investors Outperform Mutual Funds by 16% in May

Retail investors' preferred stock portfolios outperformed mutual funds by 16 percentage points in May, marking the largest monthly gap since data collection began in 2018, according to Odaily. The Kobeissi Letter reported on X platform that these portfolios included major tech stocks, such as the 'Magnificent 7' and semiconductor stocks. In April, retail investors had already achieved a 14 percentage point excess return, leading to a record-breaking two-month cumulative gap, surpassing the previous 13 percentage point record set during the early meme stock craze at the end of 2020. Additionally, the total funds retail investors allocated to semiconductor options contracts reached 4.9 times the historical monthly average, setting a new record and exceeding the previous high from March 2024 by approximately 25%.