Retailers plow $67 billion into US stocks

Today’s Agenda: Greenland is back in Trump. The new hard power leader in Europe. Reeves’ Spring Statement. Explore the original time machine in London

good morning. We start today with a Wall Street monopoly story where retail traders keep US stocks bright despite professional money managers being exposed to the market for fear of Donald Trump’s policies.

How much was invested? Net inflows from retail investors into US stock and exchange trading capital registered $67 billion in 2025, according to data provider Vandatrack. Goldman Sachs data also shows that retail investors are net sellers of US stocks in seven sessions this year, despite the S&P 500 dropping to 25 days. In contrast, large investors tracked by Bank of America made the “largest” cut in US stock allocation in March.

What is behind the influx? Steve Sosnick, Chief Market Strategist of Interactive Broker, said, “It appears that he has been continuing his ‘buying DIP’ tactics for the past five years. Despite this year’s intense turbulence, “Investors appear to be more interested in “slapping the opportunity for investors to dip view,” noting independent market strategist Jim Paulsen. Please read the entire story.

Here is the other thing we keep tabs today:

Economic data: Spain’s February producer inflation figures, Germany’s IFO Business Environment Index, and the US Consumer Trust Index for March have been released.

Germany: The 21st host will be held for the first session after the election on February 23rd.

UK: Financial Bureau Chairman Ashley Alder and CEO Nikhil Rathi appear in Parliament.

Companies: HSBC holds a global investment summit in Hong Kong, while Shell publishes its annual report. Check out this week’s newsletter for a complete list of today’s reporting companies.

Due to technical issues, some FirstFT readers may not have received the newsletter yesterday. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Five more top stories

1. Top US authorities mistakenly shared confidential details about a military strike with journalists against Yemen last week in an astonishing security violation that sparked a stir in Washington. Vice President J.D. V. V. V. V. V. V. and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses were among the members of the Signal Chat Group who discussed operational details of the attack.

“The head must roll”: Law enforcement is silent on legal experts saying it could violate US espionage.

More tariffs: Trump said the US will impose a 25% tariff on all imports from countries that buy oil from Venezuela.

2. According to the Czech Prime Minister, France and the UK are now leaders of European hard power, despite the UK withdrawal from the EU. “This is when more powerful states must play a bigger role. It is the nuclear power of Europe, people with concrete powers, France and Britain,” Petr Fiara told the Financial Times.

3. The Greenland government said it had not invited American officials to the Arctic Island amid widespread rage over its attempts to publicly dress US President Donald Trump and seduce Washington’s Nuuk. Richard Milne has more on the “private visit” statement planned this week.

4. Exclusive: China is considering including services in its multi-billion dollar grant programme to stimulate consumption, according to authorities and academics. Potential support for travel, tourism and sports comes in addition to existing “trade-in” programs for products such as mobile phones and cars. Details of Beijing’s efforts to increase the weakness in domestic demand are listed below.

Big Reading in China: A painful shift from low-cost, labor-intensive production could affect China’s stability and growth.

China’s AI startup: The country’s top group is reevaluating its strategy to stay competitive following Deepseek’s success.

5. Israeli forces have planned to re-emerge Gaza in order to ultimately defeat Hamas. The new military leader, unofficially supported by Israeli far-right minister, has formulated an extreme proposal to combat extremist groups, said some people have explained the plan.

Detailed news

Why was Heathrow Airport late to resume operations after the dispersed fire? As concerns grow into UK critical infrastructure resilience, yesterday Prime Minister Kiel starmer said he has “a question” to answer airport executives on the scale of disruption at Europe’s largest aviation hub.

I also read and listen to it. . .

The chart of the day

Tomorrow’s speech from the British Prime Minister’s lawmakers has a lot of bad news, including pessimistic predictions from the office due to budgetary responsibility, which is expected to roughly halve UK growth forecasts in 2025. Analysts warn that the spring statement could portend a more challenging full budget for the fall.

Take a break from the news. . .

As the clock progresses this weekend, FT’s Ianbot will walk the fine (meridian) line through the birthplace of GMT, the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London’s original time machine.