(CSA Images)

Retail traders sold more stocks than they bought for the first time since 2023

Monday was the first day since November 2023 where retail investors flipped to selling.

3/25/26 7:03AM

Though Tuesday’s reports of President Trump proposing a 15-point plan to end the war with Iran might be seeing oil prices slip and equities nudge up a little today, retail traders weren’t feeling so optimistic at the start of the week.

On Monday, retail investors sold $20.6 million worth of shares, marking the first day the cohort sold more single stocks than they bought since November 2023, according to a Tuesday note from Vanda Research. Still, even before the president’s reported plan, there were signs of dip-buying and a return to previous norms by Tuesday afternoon, the firm noted.

“On a broader basis, the trend since the start of March has been one of gradually receding retail participation, alongside systematic deleveraging and only modest buying from long-only and hedge fund investors on the other side,” analysts said in a note.

Screenshot 2026-03-25 at 10.07.03 AM — (Vanda Research)

It is not the first sign that the war has taken a toll on retail investors. Earlier this month, JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain noted that “retail investors are showing persistent signs of weakness.”

Retail traders crushed it last year, in large part because of AI-related trades. Their trading preferences this year remain largely the same, Jain said, with the pullback more down to dumping energy stocks than tech darlings.

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Google invests $75 million in film studio A24, forms AI partnership

Google is investing roughly $75 million in independent film studio A24 as part of an AI partnership, according the Wall Street Journal. The investment marks Google’s first direct stake in a film studio.

Under the agreement, A24 will work with Google DeepMind to develop and test AI tools for filmmaking and production workflows, the Journal reports.

The deal comes as A24 continues to expand its business beyond indie films into television, music, and live events. Since its 2013 launch, the studio has produced Oscar-winning films such as Everything Everywhere All at Once. Its revenue has more than doubled over the past two years, according to the Journal, and the company was last valued at $3.5 billion in a Thrive Capital-led funding round in 2024.

Google’s investment comes as major technology companies increasingly deepen ties with media companies as generative AI tools become more integrated into creative industries. For Google, the partnership also expands DeepMind’s reach into entertainment and film production.

The firm and TV industry is pushing to develop AI tools that can be integrated into the time-consuming and expensive production process. In a sign of the potential value of such tools, in March, Netflix announced it would acquire Ben Affleck's startup InterPositive, which is building AI film-making tools, for $600 million.

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Getty Images surges following OpenAI partnership

Getty Images is surging in early trading after the company announced a multi-year licensing and product partnership with OpenAI.

Under the agreement, OpenAI will license Getty’s library of images, videos, and metadata for use in training and improving its AI models, while Getty will integrate OpenAI’s generative AI tools into its own products and services.

The deal comes as Getty faces growing pressure from generative AI tools that can create stock image-like images in seconds, threatening parts of its traditional licensing business. Getty posted revenue of $226.6 million in Q1, down 2.5% year over year on a currency-neutral basis.

Getty was one of the earliest major content companies to challenge AI firms in court, suing Stability AI in 2023 for allegedly scraping millions of copyrighted images without permission to train image-generation models.

The OpenAI deal follows Getty’s 2025 licensing agreement with Perplexity, which gave the AI search company access to Getty’s library and required image credits with links to original sources.

Before the announcement, Getty shares had been trading below $1 for months. The stock surged by 124% in early trading, erasing its year-to-date losses as investors are waiting to see if Getty can turn its licensed content library into a more valuable AI asset.