Schwab Trading Activity Index (STAX) Summary: November 2025
Monthly Summary
Schwab clients were net buyers of stocks in November for a sixth consecutive month thanks to heavy lifting from a handful of mega-cap stocks as "buy the dip" came into force amid monthly drops for many of the "Magnificent Seven."
STAX outpaced the S&P 500® index (SPX) for the third-straight month, not so heavy a lift as the S&P 500 rose only about 0.1%. That marks the first four-month stretch in which STAX growth has surpassed S&P 500 growth since a period that ended in March 2021, tying for the longest in the history of the STAX index.
"Clients were buyers of under-performing Magnificent Seven stocks," said Joe Mazzola, head trading and derivatives strategist at Schwab. "Throughout the month, they targeted those with big pullbacks including Nvidia, with a similar pattern in Meta and Amazon. Stocks that went sideways or were big winners saw the opposite reaction from clients looking to sell into strength and rotate into under-performing names."
The monthly November STAX score placed in the top one-third of all STAX periods in terms of overall net-buying.
From an age perspective, the most aggressively positioned investors tracked by Schwab during November again belonged to "Generation X," born between 1965 and 1980. Among the least aggressive was Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012.
STAX rose to 48.75 in November, up 1.31% from 48.12 in October and the best mark since 51.94 in February. However, net-buying peaked around mid-month and fell the rest of the way, perhaps ironically posting its softest reading in the final week of November when the S&P 500 index rose nearly 4%.
That downward trend for STAX late in November ended a four-month streak in which the highest STAX weekly score occurred in the final week.
Checking sectors, just two of 11 in the S&P 500 saw net-buying from Schwab clients during November: Information technology and consumer discretionary. The biggest net-sell sectors were communication services, health care, and energy, going against trends on Wall Street.
"While the overall market appeared to show a fondness for health care, energy, and materials—with those stocks adding breadth through the course of the month—we saw a dissimilar pattern with Schwab clients," Mazzola said.
Clients tracked by STAX again put their money into familiar stocks last month. The top five on a net-buy basis were Nvidia ( NVDA), Palantir ( PLTR), Meta Platforms ( META), Amazon ( AMZN), and Tesla ( TSLA).
The five stocks with the most net selling in November were Apple ( AAPL), Broadcom ( AVGO), Eli Lilly ( LLY), Intel ( INTC), and Rivian ( RIVN).
The government shutdown that began in October and continued into November meant investors had to rely on private sector data including ADP employment, Challenger job cuts, and University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, among others. All of these showed slowing economic and consumer sentiment.
Major indexes spent much of November losing ground amid weakness in Magnificent Seven names and cryptocurrencies, hurt partly by falling hopes for a December rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Everything changed in the final days of the month, lifting the S&P 500 index from losses of as much as 5% at mid-month to a slight November gain.
"The big inflection point of the month came when New York Fed President John Williams mentioned his preference for a rate cut in December, giving the market a boost toward the end of November," Mazzola said.
Expectations for a rate cut bottomed out at 40% but closed the month in the high-80's from a percentage basis, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
More at schwab.com |
