Investors Buy Stocks, Sell ETFs: The return of stock-picking?

For the first time in 16 weeks, private clients bought single stocks and sold ETFs, which is a rare occurrence and a reversal from trends witnessed last year, notes a recent BAML report. Jill Carey Hall and Savita Subramanian of BAML in their January 13, 2016 research report titled: “The return of stock-picking?” analyze an aggregate view of BofA Merrill Lynch client trading flows into U.S. stocks executed by the firm’s cash equities business. BAML clients were net buyers last week Hall and Subramanian point out that despite the S&P 500 suffering its worst weekly decline of 6% since 2011,…