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Top 20 Traded Stocks in 2020
Written by The Inspired Investor Team | Published on January 21, 2021
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What were RBC Direct Investing clients trading in 2020? In a year encapsulated by one main theme, the global pandemic, we decided to take a look back at the top 20 most traded stocks* last year. Here's what we found.
Top 20 Traded Stocks at RBC Direct Investing in 2020
(Rankings based on filled Canadian and U.S. equity trades placed by RBC Direct Investing clients between Jan. 2 and Dec. 31, 2020.)
| 1. | Tesla |
| 2. | Air Canada |
| 3. | Apple |
| 4. | Royal Bank of Canada |
| 5. | Suncor Energy |
| 6. | Nio |
| 7. | Toronto-Dominion Bank |
| 8. | Enbridge |
| 9. | Shopify |
| 10. | Microsoft |
| 11. | Bank of Nova Scotia |
| 12. | Canopy Growth |
| 13. | Amazon.com |
| 14. | Bank of Montreal |
| 15. | Aurora Cannabis |
| 16. | Canadian Natural Resources |
| 17. | Aphria |
| 18. | Cenovus Energy |
| 19. | Boeing |
| 20. | Moderna |
To give 2020 some context from an economic perspective, RBC Global Asset Management Chief Economist, Eric Lascelles, had this to say in his final MacroMemo note (rbcgam.com/macromemo) of 2020:
"Through an economic lens, the pandemic induced the deepest recession in nine decades, the fastest decline in modern history, and spurred an unprecedented government intervention. Government actions were without precedent with regard to the limitations imposed on what people were allowed to do, and in the sense of printing huge sums of money, borrowing equally large amounts and deploying all of these funds in a frantic effort to minimize the damage from COVID-19. All of this happened in the first four months of the year. From there, the year took a fascinating turn. The most remarkable recovery in memory took hold, restoring around 70 per cent of the lost economic output in short order. At every turn, the recovery proved more vigorous than initially expected."
We also took a look at some of the busiest trading days* for RBC Direct Investing in 2020. Here are the highlights:
- Thursday, March 12 – The TSX fell more than 12 per cent and the S&P/500 dropped almost 10 per cent amid growing pandemic fears.
- Wednesday, June 11 – TSX slumped 4.1 per cent and DOW dropped 6.9 per cent amid fears of another wave of COVID-19, rising death rates and economic concerns.
- Monday, Nov. 9 – TSX closed up 1.2 per cent and DOW closed up almost 3 per cent, with positive vaccine news fueling markets.
- Tuesday, Nov. 24 – TSX closed up just over 1 per cent and DOW ended the day up 1.5 per cent as positive vaccine news continued to be good for markets.
- Monday, Nov. 30 – TSX closed down 1.2 per cent and DOW ended down 0.9 per cent amid economic outlook uncertainties.
*Data based on filled Canadian and U.S. equity trades placed by RBC Direct Investing clients between Jan. 2 and Dec. 31, 2020.
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