High volatility descended on markets in March 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, providing market participants with an ocean of concerns -- as well as opportunities. Investors had plenty of oversold stocks to choose from and were presented with a rare opportunity to get stock in great companies at deeply discounted values. As a result, 2020 was a record year for retail activity in the stock market.
Data from the time showed that retail traders got more involved, accounting for 25% of the total market trades in August 2020 after being involved in just 17% of trades months earlier in January 2020. In addition, according to Piper Sandler , average daily volume in equities was 10.9 billion in 2020, nearly 55% higher than 2019 daily volume averages. That high volume has continued into 2021.
Financial services firms like Virtu Financial (NASDAQ: VIRT) that help manage that trading volume have openly embraced the elevated volatility and benefited from their efforts to facilitate the trades.
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Is Virtu Financial a Good Value Stock?