The outbreak of the war in Ukraine prompted a number of investors across US markets to adjust their risk exposure, while high-profile names in PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) and Meta (NASDAQ: FB) set records at the start of the month for their worst trading sessions of all time.

Add in expectations of the first interest rate hike right around the corner, and each of the three benchmark indexes in the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were lower by between 3% and 3.5% throughout February.

Here is what the Selfwealth community traded last month.

US share trading activity

For the first time since September last year, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) was dislodged atop the list of the most actively-traded US stocks by value. It wasn't because the EV-maker has seen its popularity shrink, but more so a case of traders looking for leveraged exposure to the Nasdaq index. Similar to the popularity of the BBOZ' and GEAR' ETFs on the ASX, the ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF (SQQQ) and ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) have provided many Selfwealth members an outlet to bet' on the direction of the market. With the war in Ukraine a clear consideration among investors, the value of SQQQ trades leapt more than ten-fold in February compared with the month prior, while TQQQ activity grew by more than five-fold. Elsewhere, semiconductor stocks remain a popular trading trend, with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) leading the way in fourth place, and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) in 16th position among the most actively-traded US stocks on the Selfwealth platform last month. Trading activity continues to lean in favour of buying activity, suggesting many Selfwealth members still see semiconductor shortages as a key issue over the coming months.The beaten-down share price of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: FB) has caught the attention of a number of buyers, with more than 80% of all trades by value being buy orders. Shares in Meta plummeted at the start of the month following the company disastrous report, which shed light on growth concerns for Facebook. Bucking the trend despite market sentiment souring late in the month, rare earths miner MP Materials (NYSE: MP) made its first appearance among the top 20 stocks traded by value. It owns the only operating rare earth mine and processing facility in the United States, and trading activity spiked after Bonitas Research took up a short position against the stock. The development split traders right down the middle, with trading activity distributed evenly between buying and selling.Elsewhere, blue oval auto-maker Ford (NYSE: F) was a talking point. That came as the company F-150 Lightning pick-up truck inched closer to debut as Ford pivots to EV production, and some traders speculated on the (now-confirmed) prospect that Ford will look at splitting in two, including a dedicated EV division.Last but not least, some of the buy-now pay-later fans of the ASX flocked to the US to take a closer look at Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM), which plunged after reporting widening lossesTop 20 stocks traded by valueCode SecurityBuy-sell Ratio1SQQQProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF50.6%2TQQQProShares UltraPro QQQ51.0%3TSLATesla73.2%4NVDANvidia55.3%5GOOGLAlphabet80.4%6VXXiPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures49.5%7FBFacebook80.3%8AAPLApple66.9%9MSFTMicrosoft62.1%10BBIGVinco Ventures49.6%11TZADirexion Daily Small Cap Bear 3X ETF50.7%12MPMP Materials50.0%13UPROProShares UltraPro S&P50056.5%14AMZNAmazon81.5%15UPSTUpstart Holdings67.9%16AMDAdvanced Micro Devices64.5%17FFord50.0%18AFRMAffirm57.2%19BABAAlibaba89.1%20PINSPinterest48.6%

Which US shares are the most held?

All of the familiar US stocks remain as popular as ever, including Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL). 

Even during periods of market volatility, we continue to see Selfwealth members flock to these high-profile mega-tech names. Among the likely reasons for their popularity are their long-term performances, their resilience to macro shocks', and the fact that the ASX does not have any tech equivalents of this size, scale and reputation.

Surging oil prices late in the month ensured that multinational pipeline operator Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) retained its position in the top 20 most-held US stocks, albeit this continues to remain a niche' name held by just a small number of investors, who would no doubt be happy that the stock is currently trading at a 52-week high.Warren Buffett was in the news over recent days, delivering his annual update to shareholders, in addition to a bumper report for Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B). It may have been a case of investors expecting big things from the conglomerate ahead of its results, because the stock rose to 10th position among the most popular US shares in the Selfwealth community. It is another example of a stock trading with momentum behind it, also touching a 52-week high despite the market ruction of late.US StockCompany1TSLATesla2RYRoyal Bank of Canada3AAPLApple4MSFTMicrosoft5GMEGameStop6AMZNAmazon7BABAAlibaba8GOOGLAlphabet Class A9NVDANvidia10BRK.BBerkshire Hathaway11ARKKARK Innovation ETF12ENBEnbridge13PLTRPalantir14FBMeta15VOOVanguard 500 Index Fund ETF16AMDAdvanced Micro Devices17BCEBCE18BNSBank of Nova Scotia19TDBank of Montreal20UPSTUpstart

That all for this Trade Trends report, stay tuned for the next edition this time next month!