Key takeaways:

• Record money flowed into and out of US bank stocks in March

• Big tech performance fuelled growing interest among Selfwealth members

The US share market was rocked by a series of sudden bank failures throughout March, however, investors largely overlooked the mess in the financial sector to seek safety' in familiar tech names.

By the end of the month, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was 6.7% higher, the S&P 500 advanced 3.5%, and the Dow Jones clawed out a gain of 1.9%.

Volatility provided Selfwealth members with an opportunity to reassess their portfolios, so on that note, here are the popular trades from March.

US share trading activity

One of the surprise movers last month was First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC), an embattled regional bank in the US that shed as much as 90% of its market cap as some of its peers collapsed. 

While previously never emerging on the radars of Selfwealth members, FRC was the eighth most traded US stock in March, with monthly trades on the Selfwealth platform surpassing those seen throughout the stock trading history. With nearly 70% of all trades being buys', it appears a majority of investors expect the stock to pare its losses as stability returns to the global financial system.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NYSE: BBBY) remains a popular trade, retaining its spot within the top 20 most actively traded stocks last month. The stock may have recorded a series of fresh all-time lows, but that has done little to deter buyers from trying to pick a bottom' for the stock. Just over two-thirds of all trades were buy orders, and with Reddit a prominent influence for interest in stocks like BBBY, some investors believe a short squeeze could prompt a turnaround.Trade numbers in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) were up more than 70% month-over-month. Investors responded favourably to the company late-month announcement detailing plans to break up the business into six units, with five of those units set to eye fresh funding and separate stock market listings.By far and away, however, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) sits atop the list of the most traded US stocks. The EV manufacturer popularity hasn't suffered despite a wave of negative media attention at the start of the year. In fact, the stock just closed out its best opening-quarter performance in history, soaring nearly 70%, which likely explains the stock strong trading interest this year.Top 20 stocks by tradesCode Security

Buy-sell Ratio

1 TSLA Tesla 69.7%

2 SQQQ ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF 57.3%

3 GOOGL Alphabet 68.3%

4 MSFT Microsoft 62.3%

5 AAPL Apple 47.0%

6 BOIL ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas 65.6%

7 NVDA Nvidia 48.9%

8 FRC First Republic Bank 69.8%

9 TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ 49.4%

10 SOXS Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares 60.0%

11 AMZN Amazon 76.9%

12 BAC Bank of America 78.3%

13 BABA Alibaba 71.7%

14 GME GameStop 29.8%

15 META Meta Platforms 41.1%

16 BBBY Bed Bath & Beyond 67.4%

17 VOO Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF 79.1%

18 NFLX Netflix 54.8%

19 AMD Advanced Micro Devices 46.3%

20 BRK.B Berkshire Hathaway 75.0%

Mega-tech was a point of interest among traders and investors alike throughout March. The banking sell-off prompted some investors to eye out safety' in household tech names that make up a large portion of the overall share market.

By money flow, trading interest in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) reached a record high for any non-ETF US-listed security, with the value of AAPL shares traded up 93% versus the month prior. However, these funds were largely at the expense of other well-known tech giants like Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), where despite high trade numbers, the value of money traded through these names was down 83% and 88% respectively.Continuing the banking theme, money flow into the likes of Citibank (NYSE: C), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and even JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) picked up dramatically last month. None of the trio were in the top 20 back in February, however, on the back of concerns about the state of US regional banks, and potential uplift for deposits among the major banks, a record value of money was traded across each of the three stocks above. 

The fact that such a high level of money was channelled into these names, despite relatively modest trade numbers suggests some investors hold a high-conviction view on the large US banks.

Making an appearance in the top 20 for the first time, cruise company Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) was the 14th most traded stock by value in March. The stock shed 7.6% across the course of the month, but remains one of the biggest movers since the start of the year. Concerns about a credit crunch in the US weighed on cruise ship stocks, which are heavily laden with debt, but that realisation also provided a focal point for traders to sharpen their views on the sector. Top 20 stocks traded by valueCode Security

Buy-sell Ratio

1 AAPLApple 49.9%

2 SQQQ ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF 49.4%

3 C Citibank 50.4%

4 BAC Bank of America 50.8%

5 TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ 49.5%

6 TSLA Tesla 59.9%

7 SOXS Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares 48.5%

8 LABD Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bear 3X Shares 49.8%

9 UVXY ProShares Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF 51.2%

10 FRC First Republic Bank 58.5%

11 LABU Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bull 3X Shares ETF 51.5%

12 GOOGL Alphabet 50.8%

13 SOXL Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares52.5%

14 RCL Royal Caribbean Cruises 52.9%

15 JPM JP Morgan 50.6%

16 BOIL ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas 51.2%

17 NFLX Netflix 50.2%

18 AFRM Affirm 54.9%

19 MSFT Microsoft 39.7%

20 FNGU Bank of Montreal MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Leveraged ETN 52.1%

Which US shares are the most held?

After a huge month, where the tech giant shares gained 15.6%, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) moved into third position among the most held stocks by value. That came despite more than 60% of last month money flow associated with the stock being driven by selling activity. The tech giant market cap passed US$2 trillion, making it one of the bellwether names for the US market.For the second month in a row, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) increased its ranking within the Selfwealth community. It is now the 15th most held US stock by value, with community holdings swelling thanks to a 24.7% rise in the semiconductor share price. AMD was part of a cohort of tech stocks that benefitted as institutional investors rotated money into the sector.The only US stocks in the top 20 where there was a net reduction in the value of holdings were the two Canadian banks in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD). The pair recorded a 3-month and 25-month low respectively, solely due to concerns about financial contagion in relation to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Bank, not to mention the cannibalisation of Credit Suisse by UBS.

US Stock

1 TSLA Tesla

2 AAPL Apple

3 MSFT Microsoft

4 RYRoyal Bank of Canada

5 GOOGL Alphabet

6 AMZN Amazon

7 BRK.B Berkshire Hathaway

8 BABA Alibaba

9 META Meta Platforms

10 GME GameStop

11 NVDA Nvidia

12 VOO Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF

13 ENB Enbridge

14 ARKK ARK Innovation ETF

15 AMD Advanced Micro Devices

16 QQQ Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1

17 PLTR Palantir

18 TDToronto-Dominion Bank

19 TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ

20 DIS Walt Disney

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