There’s a common fallacy out there about trading, that it’s an easy way to get rich fast. But data shows something very different. Prior to the pandemic, retail traders, or traders who bought and sold securities for their own accounts made up about 10 percent of the stock market’s total trading volume.
Entering the pandemic, that percentage had increased to 30 percent by mid-2021 according to an estimate from Citadel Securities and Themis Trading. A large chunk of retail investors got their start during the pandemic. However, they didn’t seem to be striking it rich at the rate many of them had expected.
