by Narrow_Feeling9985
Hedge Funds have been selling stocks and have started covering their short positions to reduce risk in the current market condition. The equity market’s volatility index has begun to climb up, thanks to Omicron virus fears in early 2022, rising interest rates, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and fluctuating commodity prices.
Vix’s volatility index has almost doubled since the beginning of the year, and the trend is pointing upwards, suggesting the pain isn’t over yet.
Since the 2008 market crash, the only time Vix had gone above 50 points in the last 20 years was in March 2020 – due to Covid lockdowns. And looking into the 20-year data, usually when the volatility index spikes – a recession follows it.
With risk-exposure heightening and the stock market entering into a bearish trend, Hedge funds have been raking profits while retail investors suffered losses. Bloomberg reported that the data from Goldman Sachs suggests that the selling is at its highest rate since last year. On Tuesday, Nasdaq 100 officially closed into a ‘bearish market’ (a 20% drop from its all-time highs) following the second-worst daily selloff (-3.8%) in 18 months. Although it rose a staggering 3.59% on Wednesday, it’s still down -4% from Monday’s close.
But it’s not all happy days for Hedge funds yet. According to data from Morgan Stanley, Hedge funds that play on volatility and commodity trading advisors have sold over $200B worth of global equities since the beginning of the year. In simple terms – they have oversold (shorted) equities.