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The week's most actively bought investments

Source: Selftrade. *Data is as at market close last Wednesday.

The week's most actively sold investments

Source: Selftrade. *Data is as at market close last Wednesday.

A week for 'big theme' favourites

A range of themes has emerged in recent months as online broker Selftrade has tracked the activity of private investors. This week's eclectic mix of top buys and sells appears nostalgic for some old favourites that have entered the chart since the market slide of last summer. 

With buys comfortably outpacing sells, investors continue to see opportunities in this market, lifted it seems by economic optimism in the United States. And perhaps, like the market itself, investors largely priced in the fourth-quarter British economic contraction that has just been confirmed by the Office for National Statistics. 

This week's list contains a number of companies discussed previously in this column. Last week, for instance, the supermarket giant Tesco (TSCO.L) dominated the analysis as investors bought into the shares, which had been dragged down by a profits warning following an ill-judged December price war. And it is Tesco that again tops the most frequently bought list, suggesting that the story has longer to run. 

Elsewhere, the big banking stocks, such a feature of 2011 activity, are once again represented in the lists. Lloyds (LLOY.L), Barclays (BARC.L) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) have all been favoured during the last week. And it is the banks' vulnerability to the ongoing eurozone saga which has meant volatility and opportunity within the sector. 

The other theme evident is investor interest in resources, mining and oil exploration. Many global growth stories seem grounded in this sector. And once again there are companies here which I have previously discussed on these pages. Leed Petroleum (LDP.L), Gulf Keystone (GKP.L), Xcite (XELL.L), Falkland (FOGL.L) and Leni (LGO.L) have all established themselves as private investor favourites, and no doubt will continue to feature as part of portfolio strategies. 

The investment outlook has not become any less uncertain as a result of recent events in the economy. But private investors have become adept at identifying opportunity, and are able to draw from a palette of big themes in structuring their portfolios.